Preventative Measures
by gostlcards
Summary: Set in Season 5, before Chris came to the past. When trying to make a decision about her future, Phoebe and the sisters cast a spell that sends them 21 years into a very bad future.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello all! So, for those who have read my other story "Trick", you will note it's soon coming to an end. I mentioned another idea I had for a story, and this is it…I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Any of it. Well, except for some of the characters in the future…

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"Time travel is not a toy, Phoebe!"

Piper stood in the doorway of the attic, lightly chastising her sisters as they stood around the kettle in the middle of the room. Phoebe jotted down notes, trying to write a spell which would allow her to gaze into a portal of some kind and know if Jason was the one she was meant to choose. While Paige was helping her-begrudgingly, due to Phoebe's nagging for the past 5 hours-Piper was trying to dissuade them from it all together.

"I'm not time traveling, I'm taking a peek. What if Jason's the wrong choice and choosing him sends the entire world into chaos? Innocents could die."

Piper's eyebrows shot up. "The fate of innocents hang on whether you choose to move in with your boyfriend or not? Aren't we humble?"

"Shush." Phoebe replied. "Look, I'm going to do this with or without your help so you might as well just help us. Make sure we don't blow the house up or something." She was offering her sister a persuasive grin.

"Let me tell Leo to watch the baby." She finally sighed, giving in. She headed down the stairs, ignoring her sisters hushed cheer of victory as she tried to figure out a way to spin this so Leo wouldn't lecture her. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, with high risks, but she also knew that if she helped with it, she could prevent her younger sisters from blowing themselves up, which was always a plus.

When she began to mention it to Leo, a look of firm disapproval clouded his features, but she quickly moved present her reasoning for her decision. He scowled softly throughout the discussion, but in the end, he agreed to watch after Wyatt for a few hours while she worked this out with her sisters.

"Just be careful." He warned. She nodded. "And that doesn't mean I think its okay; I just know nothing I say will stop you."

"Don't worry, that's why I'm even participating, to make sure they don't do anything wrong."

"You know the Elders will file this under big time personal gain--" He began, but her sharp glance silenced him. "Just be careful." He repeated.

"I love you too." She pecked him on the cheek before turning and heading back up to the attic, where her sisters sat prepared, waiting for her. "Well, don't you move fast when it's about you?"

"I know you're not happy about this, but wouldn't you rather know? I know you would." Phoebe urged.

"Let's just get it over with. You have the looking pool prepared?"

"Well, we decided to do something else." Paige offered. Piper's gaze narrowed.

"I'm not letting you go into the future. That is way too dangerous; not to mention, stupid."

"We just want to look into a portal; not make one to go through. It will give us a clearer view."

"And not be as much to clean up." Paige added with a smile. Piper wasn't thrilled but she offered a caustic smile in return.

"Fine, whatever. Let's just get this over with so I can go spend time with my husband." She replied shortly. She stood next to Paige as Phoebe drew a smaller triquetra on the wall and hurried back. They held up the paper and with a sigh and deep breath.

"With these words, with this day Help us know which decision to make, To help the world, in any way, Show us how to avoid a mistake."

The portal blazed a bright green, different from the blue it was characteristically when transporting people to the future, and the sisters squinted from the color, preparing themselves for what they would see.

A loud bang came suddenly, and it seemed there was an explosion and smoke and the next thing they knew, they were on their backs staring at the ceiling, which was different then it had been a second ago. Phoebe swallowed hard, a sinking feeling in her stomach.

It appeared they were not so much in Kansas, anymore.

--

As the sisters gained their wits about them, they realized they hadn't gotten to just see the future. Something had pulled them into the portal and they weren't in their attic any longer.

Only...they were.

"What the hell?" Piper demanded, looking around at the impeccable neatness of the room. She turned on Phoebe. "What the hell did you do?!"

"I...I didn't mean to." She replied weakly. Piper growled in response, making her way about the room. She realized this attic was different, but she had no idea it they were in the past or the future or how far so in either they may be. Paige rose and dusted herself off.

"Where are we?"

"It doesn't matter; we're going back right now." Piper said, catching the books view in her eye. As she went to flip through it however, she realized she couldn't. "What the...this isn't the book!" She exclaimed fearfully.

"What?" Paige marched over, examining. "It's a hologram." She remarked wondrously.

"Well, I guess that solve the past or future dilemma." Phoebe offered a small smile on her face. Piper shot her a look that would melt ice. "Sorry."

"Yeah, well. We have to find the Book...who would've removed it?"

"Maybe we don't live here anymore?" Paige offered. Piper shook the idea away.

"No, one of us would always stay here. Unless..." She bit her lip, thinking. They were...around, right?

"Guys," Phoebe began, over by a mannequin that hadn't caught their eye yet, hidden in the corner among the clutter. "This is something we've worn."

"What?" Piper asked, walking over to examine it. Sure enough, it was a costume like replicate of something they had worn incognito to fight demons.

"Weird." Paige commented. "We have to get out of here."

"Definitely." Piper said, grabbing her sisters outstretched hand. With her other, Paige grabbed Phoebe and began to orb out.

And found she couldn't. The sisters hit the attic floor with a thud, crying out in shock and pain. "A shield? A magical shield? Why...?"

"What are you doing here?" A gruff voice demanded. The three turned to see an ominous looking man, dressed all in black with slicked black hair. His face paled slightly at the sight of them, but he only recoiled for a moment. "Imposters. What are you doing in the Halliwell Mueseum?"

"Museum?!" The three exclaimed.

He didn't seem amused as he conjured an energy ball. It wasn't quick enough. Piper threw her hands out, hoping the shield wouldn't affect her offensive ability and it didn't. The man burst into nothingness with a yell, and a fleeting thought; he didn't warn Lord Wyatt.

"Okay, so how about we just get out of here the old fashioned way?" Phoebe suggested frantically. Her sisters were already on their feet.

"That is the first thing I agree with you on today." Piper said, bounding down the stairs, prepared to fire at any encounter. "We'll get answers on the outside."

They scrambled down the stairs, hands up and ready to defend themselves if necessary. They gaped at the items on display, marveling at the obvious shrine that made up the home. Something horrible must have happened for the Manor to be left like that.

They almost made it to the door by the time two black clad demons shimmered in front of them. Without thinking in her panic, Piper threw up her hands, blasting them into dust.

"Run!" She yelled, flinging the door open and as they clamored down the front steps and onto the sidewalk, she grabbed onto Paige and Phoebe as more demons shimmered in. "Paige, orb. Now!"

"But, whe--?"

"Anywhere but here, now!" She yelled and without a second thought the three dissolved into blue orbs and disappeared from sight.

They manifested in a small, hidden area of the park, overgrown now with weeds and untouched bushes where there used to be flowers and a path. Paige suppressed a scream as she looked toward the waterfront and her sisters followed her gaze, swallowing their own gasps of surprise.

The Golden Gate Bridge, a symbol of San Francisco itself, stood in ruin, caving into the water in the middle. A pungent odor invaded their nostrils and they coughed, reeling from it. The once beautiful Golden Gate Park looked like a trash bin, and the normal child filled scene was no longer there. The image of the sister's once beautiful home city in such dire straits filled them with panic.

"What in the hell is going on?" Piper exclaimed, tears of confusion and fear springing to her eyes. "Are we in some sort of...alternate dimension or something?"

"Calm down, we need to stay calm..." Phoebe said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"How am I supposed to be calm?! Because of you, I am god knows where, and I have a son and a husband that will have no idea where I am! This is all your fault!" She yelled, getting more frustrated by the second.

"Don't fight! We won't accomplish anything if you guys keep arguing." Paige exclaimed, pushing her body in the middle of the two. Piper backed off, but her eyes still blazed. She turned and stalked to the water's edge of a pond, leaving her two younger sisters alone.

"This is all my fault." Phoebe whispered. "If I wouldn't have been so selfish..."

Paige bit her lip. It was true; most of the fault lied with Phoebe. But certainly not all of it. "We had a choice in helping..."

"Oh come on. I practically forced her to stand and help us. She has a kid at home, Paige. She doesn't need this."

"I don't, you're right." Piper interrupted, appearing behind her sister. "But Paige is right too. Arguing and finger pointing will get us nowhere. We need to stick together. And find out where we are, and how to get back. So we need to find people. We need to get filled in."

"Thanks Piper." Phoebe replied quietly. Piper wanted to retort, let her sister know that she was still pissed off, but she stopped at Paige's pleading glance.

"Let's just head towards a shop or something, get a newspaper or a magazine." She said, beginning to head towards the road. They trudged toward up a hill and onto the road, expecting to see people bustling around, shops open with customers and businesses; it was a Saturday after all.

It was a ghost town. They gaped, no words coming to them as familiar stores were boarded up, burned black by god knew what. Papers fluttered around as warm breeze bustled though. They decided to walk, sure of finding a place eventually. And they did; it just took almost a half an hour, much longer than it ever should have.

They walked in, noting the bars on the windows and the weak condition of the shop. A gruff man sat behind the counter, a bright blue pin on his shirt in plain sight, as he sat writing in a journal. He looked up, startled that anyone was entering and his eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing here? And where are your tags?" He asked roughly, eyes finding their chests. All three of them recoiled.

"Tags? We're not dogs, dude." Phoebe retorted.

"Mortal," He pointed at his. "Or Magical." He said, pointing at a large sign behind the counter that read "Everyone Must Be Marked." They stared incredulously.

"What the hell is this, Nazi Germany?" Paige muttered. The man picked it up.

"This world makes Nazi Germany a picnic...at least the Nazi's didn't have magic." He spat. "Now what are you doing here, before I call the clans?"

"The Clans?" Paige asked.

"A newspaper. All we need is a newspaper." Piper said hurriedly, not wanting to know what "the Clans" exactly were. His face screwed up in response.

"A newspaper? Lord Wyatt banned the production of newspapers last year." The old man snapped at them, his voice gruff and irritated. Piper recoiled.

"Lord Wyatt?" She had a sick feeling in her stomach; there was no way.

"Hey, you know what...I finally realized, you three..." The man began.

"Sorry, gotta go." Paige interjected quickly, grabbing her sisters and dragging them from the shop.

As they hurried down the street, scared and worried, they didn't notice the teenage boy running up behind them before he grabbed their arms. Piper whirled around, preparing to strike.

"Whoa, hey! I just want to help you!" He exclaimed.

"Help how?" She snapped.

"Well, you are obviously the Halliwells." He said simply; his mind thought differently though. The Halliwell Sisters had been dead for 7 years; these were just a new set of shape shifters, determined to try and reset the balance. This plan had been attempted before, an idea that if Lord Wyatt saw his family restored, he would see the error of his ways. The boy shook his head. _Foolish witches needing to be saved._ He was sure Chris wouldn't be too happy about it; seeing a carbon copy of his mother always sent him for a loop, but he wouldn't want them left to Wyatt's minions, like the first group had been. He almost shivered at the memory of the barbaric warning left after Wyatt had disposed of what was left of their bodies.

"You...know us?" Phoebe asked. The boy snorted.

"Uh, yeah. Everyone does." He motioned for them to follow. When they didn't he stopped. "Are you coming?"

"Not before getting an explanation of where we are, what's going on, who Lord Wyatt is--?"

The boy stared at them confusedly, but decided to play along. "How about you come with me without any explanation? Because in about 5 seconds, Lord Wyatt's clans are gonna be here to kill you."

"Where are we going first? I think we can handle a handful of demons." Phoebe asked darkly. The boy sighed; this trio was sure of themselves.

"The Resistance headquarters. It's the safest, most secret place in the area, and I can get you down there safe. So it's either trust me or die."

"Or we trust you and die."

He shrugged. "With that mindset in this world, I'm surprised you're not already dead. You have to take help where you can get it in the day in age. Come with me or not, I'm getting out of here before I end up dead."

"You can't be more than 16." Paige remarked as they fell into step behind him as he hurried away. He glanced behind himself at her before turning into an alleyway.

"I'm 17. What's that have to do with anything?"

"You're just...so bitter."

"Realistic." He corrected. "There's no room for anything else here if you want to live."

"Good God." Piper whispered. She thought back to the Golden Gate Bridge in ruins, the smell of death in the air. Was her Wyatt responsible for this? The golden, beautiful, joyful child had grown into this? She'd never believe it.

"What's your name?" Phoebe asked a few minutes later as they made their way into another alleyway, as they stopped. He looked at her quizzically for a moment.

"Parker." He answered, before waving his hand in front of the seemingly solid wall. "Follow me."

He stepped toward the wall, looking as if he were about to hit it head on but passed right through. The sisters followed.

"You're a witch too?" Piper asked.

"We're all witches in the Resistance. Mortals comply much easier with Wyatt because it's easy for them. He doesn't see them as a threat because they can't do anything and as long as they follow his rule, they and their families stay safe and alive."

"But not witches?"

Parker shook his head. "Not witches. Plus, Chris--"

"Who's Chris?" Piper asked. Parker's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Very convincing." He replied with a nod and a small smile. She mirrored his confused look.

"Excuse me?"

"Chris is the leader of the Resistance." He said simply. There was something off about these three and the more time that passed with them he was realizing it. But there wasn't really time for it. They made their way down a worn staircase to a basement looking area. People sat in small circles, talking, laughing, eating, not even noticing the entrance of others. Piper looked around and gaped.

"Wait a minute...is this my club?!" She exclaimed.

"Observant." He remarked dryly. "Stay here."

He walked away into what had been the back room and closed the door, leaving the sisters looking shaken and confused. The man in the room looked up.

"Hey Park. What's up?" Chris asked from his desk.

"We have a situation."

Chris' grew serious. "What happened now?"

"It's nothing to do with Wyatt," He began. "It just seems that we have another trio of imposters. Of the Charmed Ones."

Chris face darkened. "The third group in three years. Didn't learn from the last two, I see."

"There's something different about these ones though," Parker began. "They're very in character. And they look younger."

"Younger?"

"Okay," Piper burst into the office, slamming the door open. "I don't know why we even stayed out there. This is my club, and dammit, I want answers!"

Parker watched Chris and saw for a split second when it looked like he had swallowed a bug. His face was still white when he spoke.

"So you must be the three trying to undermine Wyatt again. Stupid plan, you know."

"What the hell is everyone talking about?"

"You pretending to be the Charmed Ones to get a rise out of his lordship," Parker remarked, sarcasm evident at the end of the sentence.

"Pretending? Believe me, if I had any choice, it would be to be normal and not a witch, but I don't have that luxury." Piper snapped.

"So, let's just say you are the charmed ones," Chris began, coming around the table. "How is that even possible? The Charmed Ones have been dead for almost 7 years."

The women blanched at that, and Chris immediately regretted it, no matter how much it proved that they were telling the truth. He felt a sharp twist in his gut, and resisted the urge to vomit as he stared into the younger version of his mother's eyes. Suspicion and confusion clouded a gaze he knew usually to be so loving. He looked away. "How did this happen?"

"Well, we had a little mishap with a spell..."

"You had a little mishap with a spell, trying to see your future. This is what I mean about personal gain Phoebe..." Piper launched a tirade, but Chris cut her off.

"Wait a minute," Chris looked at her suspiciously. "You're from the past?"

"2003. Phoebe here decided she wanted to see if moving out with her boyfriend was a good idea."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Come on, guys, calm down..."

Chris pressed his fingers to his temple, eyes closed tightly as the sisters bickered back and forth. "Everyone be quiet...just, shut up!" He exclaimed. The three looked at him, surprised. "Just ...be quiet. I have to think."

"Don't strain yourself." Phoebe quipped, irritated. He shot her a tired look then looked to Parker.

"Can we have a few moments ladies? I need to discuss this with my...associate." Parker raised an eyebrow at him.

"This is my club." Piper repeated.

"_Was_, your club." Chris corrected, sliding into a guise of uncaring confidence. "After you died, Wyatt sold it to the highest bidder and it was eventually boarded up, abandoned. We charmed it so it still looks abandoned from the outside, and even if he was to come here-which he wouldn't-he wouldn't realize what it is."

"And that is?"

"The headquarters for the resistance." He replied. "Look, 5 minutes. Then we'll get you guys set up and explain what we can. We'll get you back to your time. If Wyatt finds out you're here..." He trailed off. "5 minutes. That's all I ask."

Piper examined him for a moment. He seemed sure of his promise, but shaken all the same. "You'll explain everything to us?"

"Everything I can. You know the consequences of time travel if there's too much revealed."

"You seem to know enough about us." Paige remarked. He swung his gaze to her.

"You're lives are well known. You're somewhat of legends now; tales of what you accomplished during life are somewhat reminiscent of better days." He shrugged.

"Legends? Is that why our house is a museum now?"

"5 minutes, Piper. Then I'll fill you in, I promise." He replied exasperatedly.

"Fine. 5 minutes. And counting." She finished abruptly and turned, her sisters following out of the room. When he and Parker were alone, Chris flicked his fingers, locking the door.

"Well?" Parker asked.

"It's them." Chris nodded, his head falling into his hands. "This could turn into a disaster."

"Wait...are you sure? It's them?" It was Parker's turn to blanch, his mouth to drop.

"Which one of us can sense family, Park? Me. I would know my mother anywhere. The aunts too." He rubbed his fingers together as he stared at the floor, deep in thought. Parker, at the side, sat heavily on the couch.

"What...what do we do?"

"We can't let them know who we are." Chris replied hastily. "So don't even think it."

"But they--"

"Are from the past, and have no idea who we are. And it's going to stay that way."

The younger boy opened his mouth as if to object, but stopped and nodded, knowing the older man would have none of it. "Whatever you think is in their best interest."

"Park," He began understandingly. "You know how they'll get if they know who we are. Do you want them putting themselves in danger for us? We're not even around in their timeline yet! And when Wyatt...if Wyatt finds out they're here, we don't know what will happen."

Parker nodded knowingly. "I know that it's the right thing."

"You sound as if you're trying to convince yourself." Chris replied with a smirk. Parker chuckled.

"I suppose I am." He grew serious. "You want me to talk to Pru and Callie? Get them to whip up a cloaking spell to hide them from Wyatt?"

"Mind reading has always been your forte." Chris smiled. "As soon as possible. They should be at the Wharf Center."

"Care to help me out with that?" Parker stood, arms spread expectantly. Chris sighed, a withering shake of his head.

"Lazy." He laughed. "Just be careful. I'm sure a guard or two was probably vanquished when they were in the Manor, so Wyatt will have everyone on high alert."

"No problem. I'll report back as soon as I can." Parker said with a tight nod. Chris merely nodded back and waved his arm, sending the young man in a flurry of blue orbs to the destination he needed to go.

Like clockwork, on the minute, knocks came at the door and Chris motioned the lock and opened the door. They entered warily, searching the room, but as they were in, he motioned his fingers and closed the door behind them without even looking up, causing them to jump.

"Where'd your friend go?" Paige asked.

"I asked him to run an errand for me." He answered calmly, flipping through some papers. He rose, trying to keep himself calm as he circled the desk and sat on it, arms crossed as he waited.

"We didn't see him leave." Phoebe stated.

"I orbed him out." Chris replied without thinking.

"You're a white lighter?" Piper asked, surprised. He looked down at the floor, biting his tongue and mentally chastising himself for the slip. He was going to have to get used to censoring himself around them.

"Half, white lighter. Half witch." He decided to tell the truth, knowing it would come out sooner.

"Like me?" Paige asked wondrously. He fought to hide a grin.

"Like you. Like Wyatt. And others." He hurriedly supplied. "A few years after Wyatt was born, things changed a little; let's just say the Elders became a little more accepting of the union of white lighters and witches due to some...complications."

It was an easy lie, one that slipped off his tongue. He saw Piper weigh the admittance in her mind, then accept it easily as she shrugged, which caused Chris to sigh in relief. She didn't know him after all, didn't know his mannerisms and for all intents and purposes, was not the mother he would have to fear. This Piper couldn't read him like his actual one could, couldn't tell if he was lying or not. On the contrary, and maybe even a little painful, this Piper seemed disinclined to even care.

"So let's sum up what we know so far. Someone has taken over the city, and has amassed mass destruction upon it." Piper surmised slowly.

"That would be your son." He offered. "Lord Wyatt, as most call him."

"Impossible." She quickly defended.

"To you, yes. But this Wyatt..." He shook his head mournfully. "Please don't make me show you things to prove his misdeeds to you."

"Let's say we believe you," Phoebe decided to interrupt. She could feel the anger and confusion rising in Piper, but could also feel the genuine sorrow pouring from Chris. He wasn't lying about this.

"Fine, let's say." He rolled his eyes caustically but spoke no more, giving her way to continue.

"What now?" She finished.

He sighed, running his hand through his rich brown locks. "That's what I was trying to plan. I want you to stay here; Parker went to work with some of our constituents to brew a potion strong enough to cloak you from Wyatt while we figure out a way to get you back in the Manor, to the book so we can send you back to your time."

"Where will you keep us? Isn't it a little cramped in here?" Paige asked. Chris couldn't suppress his grin this time. He knew they knew nothing of Magic School, of how it's own construction seemed so small and was so large and never ending. They knew nothing of how a small broom closet could become multiple suites if necessary.

"We'll manage." He replied with a chuckle. "We have our ways."

"Magical? It would take a pretty powerful magic to make rooms from nothing." Piper remarked, picking g up on his cryptic message. He scowled inwardly; maybe he wasn't so immune to her intuition after all.

"I've been practicing magic all my life; and my family is pretty powerful. It adds up."

"Your mother let you--" She began critically.

"I will not have you implicating anything upon my mother, Ms. Halliwell, since you know nothing about her." He interrupted her icily. He found it a little moronic, even if she didn't know that she was about to insult her own parenting skills. "My mother was a great woman."

_Was._ Piper picked up on that and had the decency to look slightly ashamed. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't realize--"

"Of course you didn't. Because you won't accept that that is the reality of the world you now dwell in." He snapped, angry. Emotions he had managed to keep at bay for the past few moments festered below the surface, threatening an overwhelming blowout if he couldn't calm down. He took a few deep breaths.

"Are you saying Wyatt...had something to do--" Paige began slowly, fearfully.

That calmed him. For all that Wyatt was, matricide was not in him. "My mother died years before Wyatt became what he is." He said quietly. "But my other family I have lost...Wyatt is not innocent. And I am not the only child that is mother or fatherless, not the only brother who is sister or brother less. There are countless among the resistance that have dealt with their fair share of Wyatt's wrath. I need you to understand the gravity of the situation you have found yourselves in."

He let himself look up then after his calmed tirade and the sisters saw the raw exhaustion and emotion clouding his eyes. Piper, who had tears in her eyes through all of this, finally lost it and tears streamed down her face. She turned away from him, into the arms of her sisters.

Chris sat back as he suppressed a groan. This was not how he wanted to start this. "I'm gonna leave you all alone for a little bit." He excused himself, walking out of the office for a moment of peace only to face upwards of fifty people standing, watching and waiting for an explanation. He sighed.

This was so not his day.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Any of it. Well, except for some of the characters in the future…

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	2. Chapter 2

_"What are they doing here?"_

_"It's really them? The Charmed Ones?"_

_"Maybe they can stop him..."_

Chris sighed and rubbed his face roughly as tons of different words and voices came at him. He didn't want to hear what they thought, or wanted. As much as he hated to say it, this particular incident was a family issue and none of their concern.

As he looked up, though, he softened and realized, this was indeed a very public issue. All of the faces that came into view represented a person who had lost something because of Wyatt, and what Wyatt had become, and whether it was impossible to know or not, Wyatt may not have become what he did with the Charmed Ones guiding him. With the Charmed Ones now in the future, it seemed an advantage had appeared.

But his mother and his aunts could not be pawns. They could not know certain truths. He sighed.

"Everyone quiet! I have told you what I know as of yet, and that remains that they are from the year 2003, through a mishap of Phoebe's. And they don't know who neither I, nor any of their other family is, and it stays that way. Anything of a personal nature that could affect the future adversely will be kept quiet. Understood?"

All of them muttered, affirming. They all knew the rules of time travel; even a minute bump in the wrong direction could have drastic consequences in the later years. Plus, many who were friends of Chris knew the mere presence of his long dead mother would be stressing him out.

"So what are you going to tell them?" A voice cut through the crowd and his eyes met a middle aged man. Chris sighed at the sight of him. Gemini.

"Well, what they need to know. But my main concern is getting them back to their time."

"They could be useful," Gemini began, cutting through the crowd. "I mean, they could change things in a positive way."

"I'm not involving them in this." He replied curtly. Gemini was always a problem, a man constantly looking for an answer to the Wyatt problem. Chris could understand; Gemini had lost his twin brother, as well as his wife and two daughters to Wyatt's wrath, one of the ones who had lost most.

"Isn't it worth a try? Isn't it worth saving everything we've all lost?" An angry, desperate glint lit his eyes. Chris walked toward him, lowering his voice so only the two of them could hear.

"I want my family as much as you want yours. I do. I want my brother to be normal and my mom to be alive but that's not the way it happened, or it's supposed to happen. We will fix this, but not like this." He walked backwards, speaking louder to the whole congregation of those gathered. "Without knowing the root of Wyatt's evil side, it's impossible to know what to change, and we don't have the time to keep them here and figure it out."

"So what do you need us to do?" A girl with blonde hair broke the silence, round blue eyes staring at him.

"For now, I just need you to act like nothing is wrong. We don't need to tip Wyatt off, and we don't need to make the Charmed Ones suspicious of anything. We will discuss more plans later, between all of us. Take suggestions and stuff. This is not run like a dictatorship, you know that. But they can't be here. And they can't know about me." He licked his lips with a pause. "And they're my family. I'm sure you understand the difficult position we're all in because of that."

Another mutter of approval moved through the audience. He nodded.

"I appreciate you're understanding." He replied softly. "I'm going to go talk to them. Try to not interrupt, unless it's an absolute emergency." He turned and left as the group disbanded, slight titters flowing among them.

Bianca fell into step next to him as made his way back toward the backroom of what used to be P3. She grabbed his hand. "Chris, come here."

"I can't right now, I have to..."

"Hey." She squeezed his hand lightly. "Come here. Talk to me real quick. Only for a minute."

His gaze traveled to the door; another minute or so wouldn't hurt. He followed Bianca to a darker corner where they couldn't be watched or heard unless interrupted, but where he could watch the door. He looked down at her. "What?"

"How are you doing with this?" She asked softly, brushing a lock of hair from his eyes.

She was the only person who could ask him something like that and have him not shut down in front of it. Tears filled his eyes for a moment. "This is impossible." He whispered, blinking them away. "Just...how do I do this Bi?"

"It's gonna be okay." She hugged him and he let his face fall into the crook of her neck as he bade the tears away. He pulled away soon, and looked at her, his eyes shining just a little less. Sometimes it just helped to have someone ask him if he was okay, to give him a hug.

"We will talk about this later." He replied softly. "But I really have to get in there. I'm sure they want answers."

"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked.

He hesitated. "I need to do this on my own. I need to learn to do this. Train myself. They shouldn't be here for more than another day or so anyway."

"Okay." She replied with a nod. "Just let me know if you need anything."

"Just..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Let me know what goes on out here, how everyone feels. And make sure Gem tells me when Parker comes back."

"No problem." She arched up and kissed him. "I love you."

He smiled. "Love you too."

He moved away from her toward the door, and with a sigh to prepare himself, entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Piper was on the couch at the side, her sisters at either side. They were murmuring among themselves, but looked up as he entered.

"Sorry...about that. They had some questions...I wanted to give you some time."

"Well, we have questions too." Paige spoke softly, rising.

"Understood." He nodded, swallowing. "Well, I guess you guys can go on with it. Did you all want something to drink or anything?"

"Not really hungry right now." Piper replied, looking at her hands despondently. He felt a stab of grief for her, but moved past it.

"Well, then. What do you want to know? Within reason."

"What happened?" Piper asked, her eyes meeting his and he looked away quickly, for they were red-rimmed and distraught. He couldn't stand looking at her eyes like that.

He cleared his throat. "Um well. After the three of you...died, Wyatt seemed to get this idea that as long as he was all powerful and could control every aspect of his life and those around him, he could prevent himself ever losing anything ever again. It just kind of escalated from there."

"How do you know that? Is that something he broadcasts?" Asked Phoebe. Chris shrugged.

"I...Wyatt and I were really good friends before all this happened. Like, best friends." He shrugged. "He was like a brother to me." He finished softly, his gaze meeting the floor.

"Well, I guess that kinda takes care of our next question." Phoebe replied.

"Not really." Piper interrupted. "Who are you, Chris? Other than apparently, Wyatt's best friend?"

"Ex-best friend." He corrected. "After he started going off the rails, I kind of decided to jump that ship. But me, I'm...well, I'm a witchlighter, like Paige. I run this Resistance. I kind of started it, with a few of our other mutual friends, and it grew."

"Did you know us?"

He licked his lips and dipped his head before answering. "Yeah...yeah, I did. Like I said; best friends. I was over at the Manor a lot when I was younger, hanging with Wyatt. My mother and you all were really good friends. I don't think you've met her yet though." He lied quickly, to bar any other future questions.

"We bond over our shared dilemma of being in love with a whitelighter, huh?" Piper asked with a small smile. He couldn't help but smile softly back.

"You could say that."

"So, what are the clan's Parker warned about earlier?" Paige interrupted, pushing on with the questions. Chris was thankful for it, for getting him back on track.

"The clans are Wyatt's own personal police force. Or, rather, the only police force. Many of them are either demonic or darklighters; and they can shimmer or orb and can be anywhere in a second. They're dangerous and unmerciful. But I think you've already run into a couple of them." He tried to suppress a grin.

The fresh memory of the three black clad figures they had taken care of earlier in the morning came back to them and they couldn't help but grin wryly. Phoebe continued the questioning.

"And these markers we've heard of?"

"Ugh, those are the worst." Chris sighed, rolling his eyes. "After the first year or two, it was getting hard for Wyatt to differentiate between magical and non-magical. All of us magical beings were able to start learning to cloak themselves. And you'd think we could just figure out a way to glamour them, but no. Wyatt charmed them, pretty well, so non-magical folk can't wear magical buttons and vice-versa." He sighed, shaking his head, avoiding the look of horror on Piper's face. "Everyone has to be marked. That's why we stay underground, with the resistance."

"So what exactly does the Resistance do?"

"We fight, when we have to." He replied simply. "But only when forced, like when there's a clan attack or Wyatt get's his Irish up. What were doing now is trying to figure out what was the root of Wyatt's turning."

"I thought you said it was our...deaths." Piper choked out, still not comfortable with the fact that not only was she dead, but that their deaths had apparently turned her only son into a raging megalomaniac.

"No, I said that's when he went off the rails. But I-" He cut himself off, trying to think of something else to say. "I think," He began, trying to word what he was about to say in a way that wouldn't tip them off. "We think, really, that something must have happened in Wyatt's childhood to support such a notion. Because there were others..." He bit his lip, trying to find away around explaining about their children.

"There were others...?" Paige urged.

"Your...kids." He finished, knowing there was no way around it, but he hurried on at the sight of intense interest on their faces. "I mean, you guys had other children. They didn't turn all crazy. And no Phoebe, you can't meet them." He cut her off before she asked.

"Wow. He does know us." Paige muttered to Piper.

"Why not? They're our kids!" She exclaimed.

"And you're dead." He replied deadpanned. "And you're not coming back. And they know that, and they can't have you trying to be their moms again. You two haven't even met your kid's fathers in your time." He winced; that part wasn't supposed to come out.

The sisters gaped. "Well, I guess that answers the Jason question."

"What Jason question?" Chris asked.

"Well...that's kind of the whole reason this little mishap happened." Phoebe began.

"It's the complete reason this 'little' mishap happened, Phoebe." Piper replied. Chris stared at her.

"What? You wanted to come to the future to see if moving to China with him was the right decision?"

"We didn't want to co-wait. How did you know that was my problem? That's a personal matter."

Chris cleared his throat. "Um, well...many of your personal life stories that might affect your magical lives-like moving across the world, for example-are all included in the Histories."

"The Histories?"

"Yeah. They're a collection of the Halliwell line's history. Wyatt worked hard to produce them; if you hadn't noticed the museum you landed in earlier, he's a little pre-occupied with proving a point by showing the world from 'the power from whence he was born'." He said, air quotes and a note of sarcasm tracing his last few words.

"That's his reason for such...memorials? Are you kidding me?" Paige replied.

"He's nothing if not sure of himself."

"Arrogant's more like it." Phoebe snorted, earning a hard look from Piper. "Sorry. It's the truth though."

"Let's go back to the whole, you accidentally blowing yourselves into the future to figure out whether you should move out with Jason. You know better than that." Chris interrupted. Phoebe scowled.

"Oh come on, I've been getting this from her all day. I know, I'm stupid, give it a rest." She paused, wanting to change the subject. "You still haven't given a good reason why we can't see the rest of our kids."

He raised an eyebrow. "Their tearing emotional pain isn't enough for you? Wow, you were harder back in 2003."

She lowered her gaze. "I didn't mean that...I just...how do you know, for sure?"

"I know." He said, more sure than anything else in his life. "I told you I grew up with Wyatt, with all of them. I know. Besides," He sighed. "They're in hiding, from Wyatt. There are only a few of us who know where they reside." He was lying through his teeth, but it was a way to explain their absence and to pass off their children as mere namesakes for the greatly revered Charmed Ones.

"Why are they hiding? Do they have reason to?"

Chris bit his cheek. "I'm not answering that."

"Take that as a yes." Paige muttered under her breath.

"This is unbelievable..." Piper whispered. "How in the world could we come to this?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. But until then, we need to worry about you getting back to your time, and out of any danger."

"But what if we could-" Phoebe began to suggest they help, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Without thinking, even hoping to interrupt her offer, Chris made a motion with his hand and opened the door. Parker stood their, blinking owlishly.

"Oh, hey. Um...I brought them." He held up a box in the air containing the potions.

"That was quick."

"Yeah, well, we have quite the reserve built up." He walked in, handing it to Chris.

"What are you guys talking about?" Paige asked.

"These are the cloaking potions Chris wants you to take." Parker replied simply. Chris winced and sucked in a breath, closing his eyes tightly as the sisters eyes grew wide. "Oh. You haven't mentioned these yet?"

"Cloaking potions? To cloak us from who?" Paige asked.

"Once Wyatt knows it's you for sure, he is going to look for you. And we can't let him find you." Chris began to explain. "I was getting to that though."

"Why can't he find us?" Piper asked suddenly, rising sharply from the couch. "You know, you tell us all these things but how do we know it's not all a trick? That my son isn't the evil one, but you are, and you're tricking us, trying to keep us away?"

Parker bit his lip behind Chris, willing him to be strong. His mother's accusation would be a hard one to handle and while he knew Chris could handle it, he just hoped he would. He watched as Chris squared his shoulders and looked straight at her.

"I wish, with every single fiber of my being, this was a trick. I wish you weren't here right now Piper. I wish, that I could be normal, but I can't because your first born has started the apocalypse and the we seem to be the only ones who care to stop it." He replied icily. "So if you would just take the potions, if not to protect you and your sisters, to at least protect everyone who finds refuge here, that would be awesome. And tomorrow, if you decide I am still the liar here, I'll drop you off on Wyatt's doorstep myself, and he can deal with you."

He was so angry, and hurt; Phoebe could feel it pouring off of him, so when Piper slid a shocked look toward her to find an affirmation, Phoebe nodded. "He's telling the truth."

"Of course I am." He snapped. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some things to get in order if we're going to take our time to help you get back to your time. Park, get Bianca and have her help you get them settled." With that, he orbed out, not allowing for any time for argument. They stared at Parker, eyes wide and surprised.

"I was worried about that." He sighed. "Sometimes, when he gets really stressed, he can like, flip out. He'll cool down."

"Where'd he go?" Paige asked.

"There are two other sites where members of the resistance can meet, at the wharfs and at an underground location just inside the city limits. He's gonna want to update everyone on what's going on, and that we're going to have to divert our efforts for awhile to get you ladies home safe." He headed over to the desk, placing the potions on the coffee table in front of the girls. He began shuffling through the papers on the desk as the three sisters looked warily at the vials before Phoebe picked one up, swallowing it down without a word. Her sisters followed. He looked up, papers in hand and a smile on his face.

"Decide we can be trusted?"

"Maybe not trusted completely, but for now, we'll believe you. Either way, he said he'd take us to Wyatt if we wanted." Phoebe replied. He smile escaped Parkers face.

"That is something I can promise you don't want." He threw the papers down with a sigh, running his fingers through his brown hair. "How about I take you to your room and get you settled in? Bianca will help you if you need anything."

"Bianca?"

"Chris' girlfriend." Parker replied with a nod. "She's very nice, you won't have a problem with her. Follow me."

He exited the room, leaving the sisters to stare at each other for only a moment before they very resignedly followed him. What choice did they really have?

* * *

In an office building overlooking the cove, a man clad in black sat in his swivel chair, staring at the sea. He was brooding, angry. It was never good when he was angry.

A knock came, scared and unsure at first, but later relaxed. The man in black closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Enter."

The door opened and he turned around in his chair, facing the occupants. Two of his men flanked an older looking man, whose bright blue pin on his chest signaled to him that he had nothing to worry about. "Yes?"

"Lord Wyatt, we think we have found a lead as to who vanquished the men earlier."

Wyatt's ears perked at this; it had been irritating him all day. Someone-probably someone's of Chris' Resistance, he had thought bitterly-had killed three of his best guards at the museum and he wasn't very happy.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" He snapped. The men seemed to fumble over their words for a moment before pushing the scared old man forward with a soft shove. He stumbled over himself and fell, his knees hitting the floor as he gasped in pain. Wyatt shoved him backward onto his haunches.

"There were women...in my shop earlier." He began. Wyatt's face darkened.

"What does that mean to me? Some women came into your shop and suddenly it's the answer to my problem?" Wyatt growled. "You better give me something better than that, old man, or this is going to be a one way visit for you."

"They-they weren't wearing markers!" He exclaimed, shaking. "No markers, and they asked for newspapers, because they needed to know what the date was."

"There are no newspapers."

"That's what I told them, sir! And then I recognized...that they looked like the Charmed Ones, except younger. When I began to say something, they left quickly."

"Is that all?"

"A boy went after them. I heard their conversation. They had no idea where they were, when they were...I told them I was going to call the clans and they had no idea who they were. They left with the boy though."

"A boy?" Wyatt asked, suspiciously. "What did he look like?"

"Uh...brown, brown hair and um...brown eyes. Looked about...high school age? Maybe even a young college kid." He stuttered out. "He told them to follow him, to the Resistance."

Wyatt's eyes brightened, and then narrowed. "Parker. Dammit." He spun toward the window. "Thank you old man. For your help, I'll let you leave. Please, see him out."

The men left, the old man eager to leave a soon as possible. He knew he was a lucky man; Wyatt usually killed anyone who entered the office, but they usually didn't walk out. As he left, he thanked whatever God there was for giving him some useful information. It was only an instant later, as he crossed the street, that an energy ball hit him in the back, killing him instantly. He never saw it coming.

In his office, Wyatt sat in his chair, staring deep in thought. The two clansmen from before shimmered in. "We took care of him sir."

"Good. We need no liabilities." He said placidly, swinging his chair toward them. "So it appears we have another group of imposters. Have you been able to study the surveillance tapes yet?"

"The transmitters were down for a few hours, but we just got them up and running and were just about to deliver them to you."

"Good. I need them as soon as physically possible." He stared at one of the men. "That means go get it!"

"Yes...yes sir." He stumbled, before shimmering out, leaving his partner alone with Wyatt.

"So they could be imposter's?" The man asked softly. Wyatt nodded.

"The only problem is, if they were in the Manor and killed my guards, there is a very slight possibility, implied by their confusion the shopkeeper spoke about, that these very well may be the Charmed Ones, from an earlier time period. Imposter's wouldn't have the power to vanquish the men in that house."

The man looked down, an unreadable look crossing his face.

"What?" Wyatt snapped. The man bent his head, nervous suddenly, then spoke.

"Nothing, sir. We just...is it possible for them to actually be here?"

"It wouldn't be the first time they transported themselves to somewhere in time accidentally." He replied acidly. "You doubt me?"

"Never sir." He quickly replied. "Sorry, sir, for giving you that impression."

"I need you to scour every inch of the city looking for them. If I know Parker-and my brother, who I'm sure is with them wherever their hideout is-they've probably already worked on a blocking potion." He cursed inwardly; he hated that his brother, of all people, was against him; not only against him, but clever at spell writing and potions. While Wyatt had gotten much more superior powers innately, Chris made up for it in other magical venues.

"And if we don't find them, sir?"

Wyatt's lips pursed. He wanted to threaten him and his clan, tell them they would pay dearly, but he couldn't. He couldn't punish them for their inadequacies merely because of the fact that he couldn't lose anymore of his top ranking men. He sighed, irritated. "Come back and let me know. But there will be consequences worse than death if you don't."

The man nodded and shimmered out, leaving Wyatt to his own thoughts. If it were true, if their mother and aunt's were in this time, Chris would want to get them back to whatever time they came from as soon as possible. And he would need the book to do that.

Wyatt's gaze found the Halliwell spell book in its magical cage against the wall. He knew Chris would want to conjure it to the home, which would mean they would be going to the attic of the Manor. Wyatt hated going into the Manor if he didn't have to, but he knew he was the only person that he trusted to trap them.

He roared angrily, waving his arm and sending vases and other decor crashing to the floor. This was so inopportune. He'd bet money it was Phoebe who had done it; she was always quite the slip-up when it came to spell making. Her or Paige; his mother would never fault like that.

A thought struck him; his mother. Depending on the time period she came from, he could use her to his advantage. If Chris wasn't around in their time yet...he smiled at the thought. He could eliminate the obstacle keeping him from complete and total domination.

He sprang from his chair, suddenly relieved of his stress. Perhaps this slip up wasn't such a disaster after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: not mine

A/N: Hope you guys like the story as it's coming along...I'm really excited about this story, and it's unfortunatly taken over my interest in finishing others, like Trick, although I'll try really hard to get back on track with it, since I'm so close. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter, and I hope everyone has a great holiday:)

* * *

Chris awoke two mornings later early and stretched himself out with a yawn. His bedmate groaned and nuzzled closer, seeking the warmth of his chest half hidden by the bed sheets. He looked down at her and she looked up toward his face with a smile.

"Morning." She whispered.

"Morning Babe." He slid his hand down her back to the small of it, pulling her closer.

"Oh, you want to make it a good morning..." She replied flirtatiously and inched close to his face, kissing him. This made him pull her closer, more intensely, until he rolled over so he was staring down at her, kissing her. Their hands explored the others body intimately until they moved together as one. He looked down at her, smiling as he came close to finishing and they did together. He slid next to her, taking her in his arms.

"Nothing could ruin this with you," He whispered to her, nuzzling her with his nose. He ducked his head to kiss her.

"Chris, I---" The door opened without a knock and Piper stood there, her eyes wide at the scene she had just interrupted. Both in the bed gaped at her as Bianca scrambled to cover more of herself, and Piper quickly closed the door, standing outside of it in the hall, her eyes squeezed shut.

Chris sighed to himself. "Except for maybe that." He sighed, pushing himself out of the bed as he bent for his clothes.

"Wow. That is like, a girls worst nightmare. For her boyfriend's mother..."

"Sh! She might hear you." He shushed her. She rolled her eyes, scooting over and grabbing his hand.

"Come back and relax. I guarantee you she's probably already back in their room, mortified by walking in on a young couple. And she doesn't know who you are, so don't worry about it."

"_I_ know who I am." He replied, though he settled on the bed. "It's just weird."

"Yeah, well, the past two days have been kind of weird. I guess you really needed the night we had last night."

He smiled as he remembered how they had retired to their room early. "Yeah, I did. I do feel much better."

He thought about the day before; he had avoided the sisters almost all day, and when he did see them, barely spoke. His mother's accusation still cut him enough that he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder and had wanted to concentrate on what he had to accomplish to get them home. Piper had avoided him as well, pretty much staying in her room while Paige had pulled him to the side.

"It's not that she doesn't like you..." She began and he shook his head.

"No, it's that, and she doesn't trust me." He replied. "And that's fine. I don't need her to like me, I don't even need you to totally trust me on everything, except for the fact that the best thing for you all is to get home without Wyatt getting a hold of you. That's the best thing."

He had stormed off and that had been that. He had avoided the three the rest of the day and when they had finally reached a conclusion and Parker had delivered the plan for the next afternoon's actions, Piper didn't seem to care in the least that Chris wasn't present to give it.

"It's probably better this way," He began, licking his lips. "That she's acting like this towards me. It makes it easier for me to distinguish them at least."

Bianca bit her lip. It was a ploy, a front he would put up to prevent anyone from seeing how he really felt. While he may have been telling some truths, there was a part of him hurting from the resentment Piper showed him. But Bianca just nodded, cuddling close with him. "I agree. It'll just make it easier when they have to leave today."

"Exactly." He began to get up from the bed, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Okay, so how about I make us a late breakfast? Eggs, French toast, OJ?" He waggled his eyebrows and she laughed.

"Sounds delicious hon." She watched him grab a shirt and throw it on just before he left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving her to sigh and fall back against the pillows. She would be so relieved when this was all over.

-----

Later, after breakfast was finished and enjoyed, Bianca had playfully pushed Chris away from the sink, declaring that since he had cooked and cleaned up from that, that she would at least clean up what they used eating. He retired to his office, pulling out charts and spells they could use later that afternoon. He was so deep in his work that when a knock came, he didn't even raise his head, and just told the guest to enter.

Piper opened the door and closed it and he looked up upon her entrance, and with a roll of his eyes, looked back down. "Oh. So you've learned to knock now."

Her face blushed a great red. "I...I'm sorry about that earlier. I mean, I'm so used to it being my club..." She began to explain. He waved her away, not wanting to revisit the uncomfortable encounter from the morning any more than she did.

"It's fine. Was there anything else you wanted?"

"Yes, actually." He looked up and she moved closer to the desk, sitting on a couch next to it. "Look, I wanted to apologize, for the way I've acted towards you the past couple days. I understand you're only doing your job, I get that. But you have to understand that he's my baby, Chris---" Her eyes filled with tears suddenly and she stopped to regain herself. "He's...4 months old right now, and he's wonderful and you're telling me that all of this around me is because he's an evil overlord and it's a little hard to get---"

"Which is why we're sending you back so soon. I would hate to ruin that reality for you more than you'd hate to have it ruined." He looked at her truthfully. "I know he's wonderful and innocent for you now, but something happens between that and now, and we're trying to find out what it is, so maybe one of us can travel back and prevent it. But we don't have time to wait and figure that out for you. We need to get you back now."

"I get that," She replied hurriedly. "But what I wanted to say, what I wanted to get across to you, was that without seeing anything but the few things we saw when we got here, I don't know if I can really believe you."

He looked at her, shocked. He had expected her apology to be full of humility and here it was, still denying that anything was wrong. He held his temper. "The Golden Gate Bridge is in the bay of San Francisco." He replied simply.

"I saw that, but how do I know that's his fault?"

Chris wanted to freak out. He wanted to jump out of his seat and bang his hands and yell. But he didn't. He bit his tongue and sighed. "So what is it exactly you want?"

"Well knowing this future exists, my sisters and I have decided it's not enough to wonder; I need to know, for us. Only one, so it doesn't mess too much with the future. But just enough. To know. One of us needs to see it."

"Out of the question."

"If you don't take me, I'll go myself." She replied simply. "And I will find a way out of here. It is my club, after all."

He just stared at her; his mother was a tenacious figure to deal with, he knew, but this proposal was ridiculous.

"You said you'd leave me on his doorstep, if at the end of this I still wasn't sure. So you either do that, or you show me valid, real things. We're not leaving until we know, Chris."

"Fine. It's your torture fest though." He spat, pushing his chair back. "I'll take you on a tour of the hell this city is now; and only you."

"Thank you." She maintained her composure the entire time, mostly because she knew she had the upper hand. Something also told her whatever she wanted, Chris would eventually bend to it, happy or not. She rose. "It's like 11:30 now. Did you want to go at noon?"

"That's fine." He didn't look at her anymore, so angry he could barely move. "Just come back then, I'll be ready. We have to be back by 3 though, so we can prepare for your trip home."

"Parker said we don't have to be at the manor until 4:45 though." She replied curiously. "And really, is there so much?"

"There is year's worth of havoc your son has wrecked upon this city Piper. But don't worry, we'll get to that." He replied sharply, scowling at her. "Now if you could go."

She stayed silent as she rose, but felt as if she should say something before she exited. "I'm sorry I'm making you help someone you seem to hate so much." She said softly before heading for the door. As she reached it, he called her name.

"Piper," He replied after a few moments of silence since her words. She turned to him before opening the door. "Piper, I could never, ever hate you. I may be extremely frustrated with you, I may be angry, but take my word for it. I could never hate you." He replied softly, staring at his desk. She merely nodded.

"I'll take your word for it then." She paused. "I'll be back later."

"I'll see you then."

And with nothing else said, she exited his office, her sisters waiting eagerly behind the other side of the door. She smiled only half way, feeling as if she had only partly won something.

"He said okay. He's going to take me at noon."

-----

A few hours later, the two sat on a hillside above what Piper always knew as the rest of Golden Gate Park. He had taken her to a few different sites of the park to illustrate how abandoned and decrepit it now appeared. She stared in a quiet stupor, shock and sadness overtaking her more by the moment.

They now looked down upon a small area known to most as secluded and even romantic. It was greatly different than Piper knew; the great foliage that had forever surrounded the park was dead, and whatever was growing was obviously very young. Statues and marble benches were falling apart, some half rubble, and the image of the broke bridge hung in the background. She licked her lips.

"What happened here?"

"This is when I knew he was gone. That he wasn't...that whatever was wrong, that it was too late." He said softly. "It was 3 years ago; he ordered all those of magical origin here, to this field. We didn't know why and when they got here, hundreds upon hundreds of witches and sorcerers and everything else..." He stopped. "No one saw it coming."

"Saw what coming?" She asked. He finally looked at her.

"The attack. It came from everywhere around us, and it just...they just picked people off. We started saving as many as we could, orbing people out and whatever, but there were so many that just...we couldn't save." He swallowed hard. "The rest of us fought. There were casualties on both sides. My cousins; Parker's family." He shook his head. "Everyone lost a lot."

She paused for a long time, looking at the charred earth and destruction, and decided she wouldn't argue with him. She decided to take his word for it, because somewhere deep inside of her, she knew that it was true, as much as she didn't want to. "So why do you fight still?"

He looked at her curiously. "I don't understand what you're asking. Why wouldn't I fight for freedom?"

"Why do you fight to save Wyatt? I mean, that is what you've said you fight for, but you just said that you knew he was gone." She was trying to possible trap him in a lie. He nodded.

"Oh I get it." He said, understand her question. He had to bite his tongue from telling the truth, for he wanted to shout, _he's my brother!_ He couldn't though; that could make this hugely awkward.

"There has to be something in him still; there's something deep in there, that he can be brought back. Or it can be avoided. I know it; there is some compassion there. I mean, I'm a prime example of it." The confusion that appeared on her face was an indication he had to explain further. "Wyatt and I were best friends. And he won't, for anything, kill me. He's gotten me alone with him, and he could, he really could, but he won't, and none of us really understand why. The only explanation is, despite everything we believe, he can still be saved. I'll never give up on him."

"You love him, don't you?" She asked softly, not looking at him. There was an implication in her question and he quickly snapped his head up, staring at her dauntingly.

"If you're trying to imply a relationship other than deep friendship, I would just like to remind you of the scene you so rudely walked in on earlier this morning, Piper." Although he was severely affronted and embarrassed, he couldn't keep a note of amusement from his voice. "But I do love him...as a friend. Like a brother."

_There it is_, he thought. So close, a revelation that she could take but would only see if she truly opened her eyes. She shook her head.

"I suppose I should be so thankful that he has such good friends, then." She replied softly. "Thank you for that Chris."

"So I guess that means you believe me now?"

"How can I not, when faced with such evidence?" She shrugged. "I do have a question though...what about his father? Surely Leo could help with this. What part has he played while this has all happened? I asked Parker about it yesterday, but he said I'd have to talk to you about him."

"He would say that," He muttered, his face taking on a sour look at the mention of his father. "Leo Wyatt isn't really a part of this at all. He doesn't seem to care that his son is crazy, and ruler of all evil."

"I find that doubtful."

"Whether you find it doubtful or not, it's true." He snapped back. When she flinched, he softened. "I'm sorry...Leo and I don't have a great relationship and haven't spoken in years, because he's just so unwilling to do anything---" He halted his rant. "Whatever. Leo is just not a part of this. He refuses to take part in anything that may go against his precious first born."

"Why do you sound like you carry such a vendetta against him? Why would you have any sort of relationship with him?"

"That's none of your business." He replied simply.

"He's my husband, and a very important part of our son and mine's lives, so yes, it is my business."

He turned suddenly at her, getting within inches of her face, his passion taking over. "He didn't seem to care so much about you when he let you die."

She paled at that, as if he had slapped her and he again, immediately regretted it. "I'm...I'm sorry. Let me just take you back to the club..." He held out his hand, but she pulled away, backing up a few steps. As she blinked tears away, her voice grew harsh and unforgiving. She was tired of this stranger yelling at her, mocking her with information she was not privy to.

"So why do you care so damn much about this? Why are you so angry, so hateful?"

His shoulders sagged at her accusation of truth, and it was almost as if he was realizing it were true. He had been treating her like an enemy, like a nuisance he was trying to get rid of.

"You're presence is frustrating, because there is so much I want to say to you all sometimes. I want to tell you how you died and how Wyatt may or may not have been turned, but I can't because it goes against all magical law and I'm taking it out on you. And I'm sorry."

"So why can't you just tell us? We can help, we can be apart of this."

"As much as I would like for this to not be, for you all to be alive, and well, and Wyatt not...not insane---" He sighed with a shake of his head. "We're sure there's something else behind it, for one. And another; you _know_ how important it is. You, of all people, went back to the 1970's and saw your mother and could've warned her about the lake monster, but didn't because you knew better."

"You certainly seem to know a lot about us and this whole...thing." She lowered her guard and walked toward him, allowing him to take her hand and orb them back to his backroom office at the club. As he moved to leave, he stopped and turned.

"I don't know how else you want me to explain my reasons for the secrecy. I'm just not like Wyatt; I don't try and turn fate where it should go. If after all this, in your future, you still die," his voice hitched, but he continued. "And Wyatt still goes nutso, then that's how it truly was meant to be. It is not our place to change fate. Maybe that's what Wyatt needs to learn above all." He shrugged. "Are you coming? We only have about a half hour before we have to get to the manor, and I want to make sure everyone is prepared."

"Yeah...yeah, just gimme a minute."

He nodded, leaving her alone. She walked into the bathroom, staring into the mirror as she ran the water, splashing it on her face. The brief tour had been enough to shake her up, to reveal that Chris was more than likely telling the truth and that the world in the future would be run by an evil tyrant who just happened to be her son. She stared at herself wryly before sighing and turning to head to the main room of the club, where so many people waited, preparing to risk themselves to get her and her sisters home safely.

Minutes later, the sisters sat tightly together, a holographic layout of the Manor floating in the middle of the circle of chairs formed by 6 others. Chris stood next to the layout, and a girl unfamiliar to the women stood on the other side of it. Bianca sat behind them and offered a reassuring smile as an identical confused look settled on all the sisters faces.

"Okay, so let's start." Chris replied with a sigh. "This is the layout of the Manor, even though I'm sure we all know it pretty well."

"I'm Prudence Cooper, but you can all call me Prue." The unfamiliar girl introduced herself with a smile. "No relation, by the way. My mother just loved the Beatles." She replied as she saw their expressions change at the mention of her name.

"And I'm Cary Mitchell." A young man rose from his chair, extending a hand as a girl followed behind him.

"And I'm his sister, Callie Mitchell." She smiled, doing the same as her brother. Parker sat next to Prue and Chris seemed to wait exasperatedly as the introductions were made. When they had settled, he cleared his throat.

"Okay, now that we all know each other," He eyed his constituents annoyingly. "Let's get to business."

"I'm going to take care of the shield that surrounds the house," Callie began. "I'm pretty versed in spell writing, and have been doing it all my life. Considering Wyatt's level, it takes a lot of work, but I think we'll be able to override it until he realizes it's down."

"After that," Prue took over. "We've come up with a glamour spell we'll all use to enter the house unrecognized. We'll be accompanying the last tour, which we're sure may be a little surreal for all of you, but it's the only way to get in without really drawing attention to ourselves."

"The end of the tour concludes in the attic, all but one of us is going to sneak into the basement, hopefully unnoticed." Chris took over, walking around the layout before closing it in mid-air. "When we know the tour is over and the tourists have exited, one of us will orb everyone to the attic, where hopefully, the one person who made their way there with the group will have begun to prepare everything. The triquetra drawing and the book has to be summoned from Wyatt's office."

"The book only reacts to those it trusts." Phoebe stated. He shrugged.

"Like I've said before, best friends with Wyatt, spent lots of time in the Manor. The book and I are old friends."

"Anyway," Cary interrupted, prepared to finish the tail-end of the explanation. "After that's happened, we'll have very little time to get you out. The book's disappearance will be detected immediately, and Wyatt will no doubt know why. We'll get the spell and send you back ASAP and deal with the fall out afterwards." He sighed. "Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah." Piper replied, her face scrunched in confusion. "Why drop the magical shield around the house if we're just gonna walk in?"

"Precaution." Callie replied simply. "Oh, and the fact that after you've gone and we've closed the portal, we have to get out of there before Wyatt shows up and the safest way to do that is orbing."

"Ah." She nodded. "Okay, well, this plan sounds amazing. Like clock work. But, and no offense, really, but in our experience, things like this don't exactly always work out perfectly."

"So what if something goes wrong, is what you're asking?" Prue replied with a small smile. Piper nodded. "Well, we know there's a chance, but we're thinking that's gonna happen after Wyatt comes. If we can get you all out of there before that happens, and up to that point it seems pretty easy, that's all we need."

"And the clansmen?" Phoebe asked.

"We'll take care of them similarly like you all did." Chris replied simply. "We all have active powers. I control telekinetics, the twins both have similar offensive abilities, not to mention the power to orb, and Prue...well. Show em."

A glass behind them on the bar exploded for a moment, then all the shards froze in mid-air. The crash alarmed them and they spun to watch as she manipulated the pieces to form a rather delicate sculpture of simple flower, before letting them fall to the bar top in pieces once more. She grinned.

"Show off." Parker grumbled. She pushed him playfully and he scowled back at her.

"Molecular manipulation, very nice." Paige said with a nod.

"You don't seem to be too worried about the after part, about yourselves." Piper prodded on. "I mean, you said your biggest concern is getting us out."

"As long as you all remain safe, especially with the knowledge of this fractured world, you remain our greatest hope for a better future." Callie replied. "Besides, if you don't get back safe, as unimaginable as it is, this future could be even worse."

"Yeah, well, I think I speak for all of us when I say we'd like to see some more precaution made for you all." Paige replied. "We'd hate to wonder if you all made it out after risking everything to help us."

"We can do it," Cary replied with a small smile. "We were taught by some very crafty people. The very best. But thanks, for your concern." It was a genuine thank you, one that made all the sisters smile back and want to ask more, but Chris changed the subject once more.

"We're set to leave here in half an hour. I assume you may want to discuss things amongst yourselves, so let's meet back in about 20 minutes and we'll get going."

The sisters nodded and rose, forgetting all they wanted to pry about. They wanted to ask Piper what she had visited and learned of, and that trumped any information they may have hoped to nose out of the remaining members of the resistance. As their door closed to their room, tears filled the eyes of Callie and Prue, who bit their lips to keep them at bay.

"That was so hard." Callie whispered, leaning into her brothers' shoulder, He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close affectionately.

"I know."

"But they can't know." Prue responded resolutely. "They might try and stay if they do."

Chris looked at all of them, studying Prue the most. She was the youngest of his cousins, yet just as clever as the rest. Parker, her brother, was just as sharp, but emotional due to his empathy and psychic abilities, and had a tendency to let his passions override his judgment from time to time. Callie and Cary, the twins of the group, relied on the other to balance out their hectic part in all of this.

It was rough, seeing their mothers again after such a long time, but together, the 5 of them would deal with it and adapt. He had almost forgotten that Bianca was even present until she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his midsection and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"You okay?" She asked yet again, for what seemed like the thousandth time since his mother and aunts had arrived. He nodded, eyeing his cousins and then the door where the matriarch's now resided.

"I will be." He said, with a nod, turning his attention back to his cousins and caught their's, before speaking strong and reassuringly. "We all will be."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine!

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the story this far, I really appreciate it. I hope where this is leading is interesting to you, because I know where this is going and I like it better than others…so yeah. Please review as well, even if to just say good, cause I like some idea of how many people actually like the story. So yeah. Enjoy!!

* * *

Their 4 door sedan zoomed down the road, pulling into a large parking lot near where the manor stood. Rain fell steadily around them, setting a gloomy mood for such a serious afternoon. Exiting the car, Piper looked out, mouth agape.

"What happened here?"

"Wyatt, again." Chris answered simply. He looked around, his eyes squinting against the rain that fell. The street had once been lined with homes, but now, all that stood were various homes here and there that had been spared from Wyatt's demolition. As he had wanted to make the Manor into the museum it was, he knew he would have to clear out some room to accommodate the amount of guests that would be visiting. So he had evicted-or killed-the remaining occupants around the block, and disposed of their homes.

"My god..." Phoebe whispered, following her sisters behind Chris and the others.

"So, wait. I recognize all of you. I mean, I look at you and I see Chris." Paige stated.

"Right, you do. But they are going to see a middle-aged balding man with a fanny pack." He replied. "Don't worry, the spells fool proof."

"Don't worry is usually followed by 'Oh Shit'." Phoebe whispered to her sister, who smiled in response. It was true; the trio had had their fair share of mix-ups in the 5 years since they had become witches, mix-ups that had been foolproof as well. But they did trust Chris, if only with this. Besides, if something went wrong, they still had the power of three to defend them.

Still, the environment around the home jarred their senses. They had run outside the home to escape days before, but they had been in such a hurry they hadn't really surveyed anything until Paige had orbed them somewhere safer. Now, in the safety of disguise, the state of their neighborhood bothered them greatly.

"Are you ready?" Cary asked softly, his hand on the door handle. The sisters nodded and they entered into the Manor's threshold. There was a second door that had never been there when they were there days earlier, and it glowed with an ethereal light.

_Magical. Just for the tours,_ Parker's voice entered the sister's minds and they snapped their heads around to look at him. He smiled.

_Sorry. Forgot to mention that. In situations like this, we communicate telepathically. We have the ability to talk to you like this, so don't spook or anything. _

They didn't shrug, just turned their heads back like nothing was wrong, but the sense of weirdness didn't escape any of them. Chris saw the confusion and had to smile; what a shock their futures were going to be to them.

There were two other parties waiting for the last tour and when it was time, the golden door disappeared and a perky woman stood in its place; Chris had to keep from rolling his eyes as she handed out pamphlets, a bright smile on her face. If these mortals only knew that she was really a "he", and fierce, mean one at that. Wyatt only had his best and brightest give the tours, and have direct contact with the public.

The tour began and he kept a close eye on his mother and aunts as they watched, their eyes growing wide and emotion filled. They moved through the front of the house, holograph's popping up with scenes replaying themselves. The mannequins they had seen before, along with other artifacts, remained present as they had been the days before they had been there. The sisters were the only ones really listening to the curators spiel; the others were watching, waiting for the perfect time to sneak away.

As they neared the kitchen, preparing to go up the stairwell, the girls searched their guide's faces. Chris nodded towards Parker and Cary, who signaled to Piper who froze the room, giving the majority a chance to back away, down to the stairwell of the basement as Chris stayed there. He nodded again towards Parker, who was the last to go down. They had hung back from the group, so he would easily explain their departure as a disinterest in the rest of the tour or an appointment-if anyone asked-and as the door closed, prepared himself to head up after the group.

He didn't even hear the spiel as the tour guide went on and on; he had heard it enough before, and even if he hadn't, he had stories about the Charmed One's that these people would never hear.

He just kept going over the plan in his head over and over as he stood in the darker recesses of the room, trying to remain inconspicuous, trying to keep the group from realizing that he would soon fade into nothingness and become invisible. He waited patiently, thinking of what could go wrong and what he could do to handle it; he had no idea there was one more person hiding in the shadows, watching and waiting, just as he was.

When the room had cleared, he didn't even notice that it happened a little quicker than custom, and he soon was joined by the others, who orbed up from the basement a few moments later. He muttered something quickly as they just looked at him, waiting for some direction.

"What was that?" Phoebe asked, squinting.

"I dropped the glamour on you. So when you go back through the portal, Leo won't look at you and call the cops." He replied somewhat sarcastically. Piper raised an eyebrow.

"Is it just me, or was that a sense of humor I just heard?"

"Ha. Ha. Let's just get on with it." He replied with a roll of the eyes. They all stood behind him, closer to the wall as he started forward to the podium where the Book of Shadows once sat. He was in mid-step, self-assured and ready, when a voice came that made it all fall apart.

"Not the only one who can cloak yourself Chris."

"_Fuck_." Chris breathed pointedly.

"What was that?" Piper asked. Parker and Cary immediately pulled the sisters to the very back while Prue and Callie took spots directly in front of them. Chris stood in front, his back straightening as he took on a more protective stance. After having revealed his presence, Wyatt dropped the cloak.

"That, was Wyatt." Parker whispered. The sister's eyes grew wide.

He stood in front of them, right in front of the books podium, a menacing glare on his face. "Long time no see Chris."

"Cliche as normal. Hello Wyatt."

Piper held in a gasp; this was her bright eyed little boy? He was scarcely 6 months old and yet...now 23. His hair hung to his chin in wavy strands, with a beard and thin mustache on his face. He was clad in all black from his neck to his toes, and a dark feeling surrounded him. She looked away. He saw her despair and laughed.

"Oh hello Mom. So good to see you after so long. So I guess what...you're from 2003, so that would mean I'm not even walking yet right? Oh how far we've come."

"Looks as if you've fallen actually." She bit back. He rolled his eyes.

"Ah. Yes. The whole fallen from good thing. I would give you my whole philosophical rant on good and evil, but for the sake of time and the assumption Chris has probably filled you in on that already, we'll skip to the fun part." He brought his attention back to Chris. "They're not going anywhere today, but with me."

"No good can come from that. They have to get back to the future; she has to get back to the future." Chris smirked slightly. "She has an infant to raise, diapers to change..."

"Or, this could be the answer to all my problems." Wyatt interrupted. "I'm sure you can think of one in particular I would love to remedy."

Chris' face paled and his stomach swirled, but he didn't show it.

_Cary, Callie, make sure to get them out of here on my word_. As he looked back, making it seem like he was looking at Piper, he saw the twins nod ever so slightly.

"I mean, what better way to eliminate the one person who stands in my way? I'll just send dear old Mother here back to a more convenient time for me, and voila-no problem."

"You wouldn't." Chris stalled, pretending to call his bluff. The scary part was he believed his brother would do it; he just had to keep him occupied enough to gloat about his plan long enough to get his family out safely. "You have no idea what the repercussions of that would do. Hell, what if you even grow up to be, dare I say, good?"

"Why would keeping me here eliminate who?" Piper asked, her gaze become scrutinizing. Chris' stomach dropped to his feet as he watched Wyatt's face take on a look of disbelief.

"Chris, you moron. Chris!" He snapped. He looked between them, Chris' eyes downcast and his mother's completely confused and laughed. "Oh my---you didn't slip up, did you? Airtight as usual, I see." Tired of the wordplay, he raised Chris up with his mind and held him in the air by the neck of his ratty shirt.

"Wyatt, no!" Piper yelled.

"See, mom," He began, rather cajolingly. "If you don't go back within a year, you can't conceive another baby, like you're supposed to. If he's not born," He stared pointedly at Chris. "Then he can't be in. _My_. _Way_." And with his final, stabbing words, he tossed Chris into an adjacent wall, where he slid to the ground with a groan.

"Cary--" He coughed. _I'll take care of him; you get them out of here!_

"We have to go." Cary said, nodding towards Callie to grab Parker and Prue. _Follow us to the club, _he said in Paige's head. She nodded subtlety.

"You're not going anywhere!" Wyatt yelled, raising his hand to move offensively, when Chris lashed out his arm from his fallen position, throwing his older brother into a wall hard enough to keep him down a few seconds. All the while, Piper's eyes never left where Chris had fallen.

"Chris...Chris..." She whispered, her voice strained. "Chris was Leo's father's name..."

"I can't believe you didn't see it." Wyatt enjoyed the distress he was seeing, pulling himself to his feet as he teased her further. "I mean, everyone always says how much he looks like you, I mean seriously," He jerked Chris to his feet, twisting a little bit to draw a small cry of pain from his brother. He floated him to where their mother stood, inches from her face as she stared into his eyes. "Like looking into a mirror, right?"

Chris held her gaze for a moment, as she heard his voice in her head.

_Go_, he said, _I'll be fine. Go._

Suddenly, his arm broke away from Wyatt's hold, surprising his older brother as he flung him across the room, pinning him to the ceiling and holding him there. His feet, which had been floating a few inches above the ground, hit solidly, allowing him to take a much stronger hold on Wyatt for a few moments. "Cary, now!"

"Everyone grab hands!" He yelled. Callie orbed out with Prue and Parker, Paige close behind her, but Cary had to wait as he had a hold of Phoebe but waited for Piper to reach out. She just stared at Chris, wide eyed and frozen.

"I can't leave you alone---" She began softly.

"Go!" Chris yelled at her in fierce desperation. "I'll meet up with you later, just go! I can't keep him down for long."

Without any other care for what she wanted, Cary lunged for Piper's arm as they all mingled in blue light, the sound of orbs transporting them away. Chris watched them disappear with a satisfied sigh, dropping his brother to the ground below. He bent over, gasping for air and coughing a little as adrenaline ran through his veins, willing his heart to stop pounding. A few moments later, he turned, leaning against the wall and sliding down to his haunches as his older brother was picking himself up.

"Well, well, well. It looks like my harmless little brother isn't so harmless after all." Wyatt licked his teeth, his eyes narrowing as he slowly neared him. "Surprise, surprise."

"Yeah, well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me."

"We'll maybe we can talk it over." Wyatt grinned devilishly. "We're going to be spending the next few hours together. And I can see we have so much to catch up on."

------

For the record, Bianca had stayed behind.

During the planning process, Chris had pulled her aside, telling her that he didn't mean it the way he knew she would take it. It wasn't that she wasn't strong or fast enough; if anything, having her there would be great defense if anything did go wrong. But he also loved her-so much. And with the Charmed One's being present, with the duty that he had to fulfill being so personal and stressful already, he had asked her to stay behind just this once, to hold down the fort. She had agreed, although very reluctantly.

When his cousin's orbed back in with the Charmed Ones in tow and Chris nowhere to be found, her stomach dropped, and she knew what his real reasoning was; he would need someone to hold down the fort and control things if something went terribly wrong. Which, by the forlorn and frightened looks on the faces of the newly present, was evident something had.

She had made soup while they were gone. To calm her wound nerves and anxious mettlings, she had made pot after pot of soup. She was now thankful for it, because she sat the ones who returned down, urging the cousin's softly to explain what had happened. She had noticed the sister's ashy complexions, the look on Piper's face that anyone could read and know she just wanted to throw up. Something bad had happened.

They sat around the table, some sipping the mix, some eating it heartily, and Piper at the end, just spinning her spoon in it as she stared, transfixed with other thoughts in her head. Bianca listened carefully as Parker and Cary recanted the encounter at the Manor. Tears of worry sprang to her eyes as he told her about the attic scene and Chris' eventual demonstration of his powers.

"So where is he now?" She asked calmly, although she knew the answer. Cary stared back at her sympathetically.

"This isn't the first time he's been trapped with Wyatt."

"Yeah, well it's the first time Wyatt's ever known his level of power!" She snapped back. "What do you think is happening to him?"

There was a silence in response to her question, validation that no one really wanted to think about what was happening to him. Because the reason why Chris never was killed by Wyatt before-tortured, yes, but not killed-was because he wasn't viewed as a threat. He was the weaker one, one who could easily be handled, but with such a demonstration, there was no guarantee that Wyatt would push Chris' body to death's door then have a healer bring him back. There's was no guarantee that he would stop at death's door at all.

"What do I do?" Piper spoke for the first time since they left the Manor. Phoebe and Paige had tried to make small talk with everyone, but there really wasn't much to say because everyone's mind was on Chris and his supposed fate. They all looked at her. "I mean, he's my...he's my...mine, right? So what...what do I do?"

"We wait." Phoebe replied softly after a few moments of silence. Her admission drew surprised glances from all the others around the table. "I mean, the three of us, wait. I would assume you all have some sort of rescue plan right?"

"We are going to form some search parties and scour the city, but what Wyatt doesn't want you to find you don't." Parker replied, shrugging. "He'll turn up though."

"You make it sound so matter of fact." Paige commented. Parker shrugged.

"Wyatt won't kill him."

"But he'd leave him for dead." Prue quipped. Parker shot her a look.

"Prue..."

"Well, it's true Park. I think we're wasting time here." She looked at Bianca and the other two in the room. "We need to look for him."

"She's right." Cary rose from his place at the counter, pushing his soup away. "We should be out there already. How about I take Parker, and Callie, you take Prue? We'll round up some members from the mountain headquarters, and you guys go to the Wharf center. Sound good?" He turned to Bianca. "You stay here; in case he shows up, stay with the Charmed Ones?"

Bianca pursed her lips and nodded. Parker, who was watching her carefully, cleared his throat.

"Actually, Care, with Bianca's more active powers and the clans being out in full force in search of them, I think it'd be better if she went with you and I stay here with the sisters."

The older boy looked at Parker in surprise, but nodded before turning to his sister to smooth out details before they both hurried away. Bianca turned to Parker, eyes wide and shining with a confused look on her face. He smiled.

_Empath. _

She smiled back. _Thank you_, she mouthed, before turning to head over to where the other three stood. He merely shook his head and turned to the counter, collecting the near empty bowls of soup. He came close to the sisters, who had watched the entire deliberation in silence. Phoebe smiled.

"That was really nice of you." She commented. His ears burned, and he hoped it wasn't obvious.

"Hm?"

"To have her go instead. I mean, you're really worried about him too, but you had her go instead. It's nice."

He shrugged. "She's better equipped than I am to deal with the clans. Plus, he might end up here before they find him and I...I don't want her to see the damage."

"Damage?" Piper asked. "What do you mean damage?"

He winced; he hadn't quite meant for her to hear that. "Well, Wyatt usually heals him up pretty good, but he doesn't heal him too good. We usually bring in someone else to help him get 100. And with the recent display of power, I just don't know what to expect."

"Oh, god..." She went white, hand shaking. "I think I might be sick..." She backed away, hurrying towards the bathroom. Phoebe followed closely, leaving Paige alone with the rest of them.

"I think we're gonna get going." Cary spoke, gaining their attention. "Hold down the fort while we're gone Park."

"Will do."

They orbed out, leaving Paige and Parker alone as the remaining two sisters walked in from the bathroom, Piper still looking a bit pale.

"That soup didn't taste as good coming up as it did going down." She muttered. He smiled softly.

"Here." He handed her water. She took a sip from the bottle.

"Thanks." She said after swallowing. "They left?"

"Yeah, you just missed them."

"Do you think they'll find him?"

He was silent for a moment, and for the three days they had known him, Parker had always appeared cool and collected, grown up and sure. For the first time, he looked doubtful, and scared, and they all realized he was really only 17. "I don't know if they'll find him. He'll turn up though. I know he will."

They didn't question it, even if he questioned himself about it, because they all had to hope, they had to believe, that he would turn up. Because the alternative was just too horrible to consider.

------

High above the earth, above the clouds and the cosmos, a man sat at an old wooden desk, pouring over a new book of prophecy as he took notes, discussing his findings with an older woman who sat in an arm chair adjacent to him. Without a knock, the door to his office swung open, revealing a squat, balding man with glasses who seemed to have a sort of nervous tic. Frowning, the man raised his head from his work.

"Sinclair. Did you need something?"

"Sir, it appears there's been some activity in San Francisco involving the Charmed Sons." Sinclair replied hurriedly. Worry replaced the mans frown and he sat straighter in his chair.

"An altercation?"

"At the Manor." Sinclair replied with a nod. "And that's not all. It seems we should have been paying more attention these past few days."

"Why?"

"Well, sir..." He hesitated, before a scowl appeared on the other man's face. He hurried on. "It appears the Charmed Ones are in our time, from the future."

The man at the desk slumped back in his chair, a pit forming in his stomach. "Wyatt has Chris?"

"Yes, sir."

"He was trying to send them home."

"Yes sir, it appears that way...sir."

The man at the desk swore and leaned forward. "Where is Chris now?"

"We don't know sir, but we're keeping an eye out for him when Wyatt does finish with him. It also appears he used a significant amount of energy, more than we've ever seen from him."

"From Chris?" The man asked. Sinclair nodded. "But Chris...I mean, he's powerful, but I thought..."

"Not apparently, sir. With all due respect." Sinclair corrected hurriedly. The man at the desk frowned deeper.

"That means he'll be more of a threat to Wyatt." He mused. "We have to find him immediately."

"Yes, sir, the Resistance is on that as we speak and so are we." He nodded, preparing to leave now that his message had been delivered, but was called back by the man.

"And Sinclair? What of the Charmed Ones?"

Sinclair softened. "They are well, sir. He protected them, arranged for them to escape, although it didn't work out that way. They are at P3."

"All 3 of them?"

"All 3, sir."

"From what year?"

"2003, it appears sir. June, we think."

The man stayed quiet for a moment, before clearing his throat. "Thank you Sinclair. We will divert our efforts. You can go."

The smaller man nodded and exited. The woman in the room turned. "Well. I guess this changes things quite a bit."

"Yes. Yes it does." He replied.

"Are you alright?"

"I will be." He replied, rising from the desk. "What we need to do though is start acting, and stop sitting here anymore. I've sat on my hands too long."

"Leo..."

"No, no. I'm going to find my son and take him home and then, we're gonna finish this. But for now, please leave." He gave her a glance and turned. Without another word, she did and Leo busied himself with a map, a crystal, and a search.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine. As usual. Lol.

AN: Hopefully you all enjoy this...I have most of the next chapter written and I'm really enjoying the story, really enjoying where it's going, so I hope you all enjoy it too. Please let me know what you think:)

* * *

The rain fell with a much harsher force than it had early, with lightening and thunder traveling amongst the clouds.

A body twitched in the flickering streetlight, heaving for oxygen and trying to hold on. He was so tired, and broken, much too much to walk or travel away in any other manner, so he lay there, gasping for breath, hoping for a miracle.

A man walking on the sidewalk spotted him from a few feet over and carefully made his way over to help. However, as he took in the injured man's face, he drew back.

Cuts and bruises adorned it, as well as swelling, but there was no mistaking this man, the blood traitor, the head of the Resistance against Lord Wyatt. While the stranger ached inside with pity and desire to help, he was mortal and the smartest thing he could do for he and his family was turn and walk away.

Chris caught him in the streetlight for a moment, sensing another presence nearby. "Please..."

"I'm sorry." The man replied very softly, and turned, hurrying away, leaving Chris to again close his eyes and fight to stay conscious.

This was different than usual. Usually, Wyatt would hurt him, but he would make sure he was healed enough before letting him go. Wyatt never could bring himself to kill his brother, even if he beat him relentlessly for answers that never came. He usually made sure he was healed enough to make it back to whatever safe haven he came from. One thing was sure; if Wyatt had wanted him dead, he would've done it long before.

This was different. After Wyatt has finished with him, he had sneered disgustedly and almost mournfully gazed at the young, gasping man before demanding his clansmen take care of him meaning; leave him to die. That way, Wyatt couldn't be blamed for killing him. It just meant Chris wasn't strong enough to survive it.

The copper tang of blood came lightly at the back of his throat and he felt a stab of fear as realization set in of what may happen to him if someone didn't help him soon. He knew his body was twisted in the street, an awkward sight for any who saw him, but it seemed no one would come. He closed his eyes, almost resigning himself to his fate.

_Not like this_, he thought in his mind, relaxing ever so slightly to conserve his energy. _It can't end like this_.

As if an answer to a prayer, he suddenly felt hands touch his face. As he struggled to open his eyes, a muffled voice spoke, unrecognizable due to the state he was in.

"Don't get up, don't..." The voice hitched and stopped, the stranger emitting a strained sigh. "I'm gonna fix you, but don't move; save your strength."

He closed his eyes again and relaxed and he began to feel a familiar warmth spread over him like blanket, taking away much of the pain that he didn't even realize was wearing on his body.

"Jesus..." The voice breathed, then as if pleased enough with the amount of healing done, scooped him up like he was a rag doll. "That should get you out of the woods." As he felt himself rise into the air, he stiffened for a moment, his eyes still closed from exhaustion, to shield himself in case this wasn't a good thing. "I've got you." The man assured as he stood, shifting his body to shield him from any more rainfall.

Feeling better, yet just as exhausted, Chris pulled as much as he could together inside him to let his eyes flutter open for just moment, just to get a look at the man who was helping him. At first, the face was blanketed with shadows and unrecognizable, but as his eyes began to close, he swore he got a glimpse of what appeared to be his father's face, dark with fear and worry.

"Dad?" He whispered, before he felt his will give out and his body go limp as he succumbed completely to his subconscious.

------

It was hours later that he finally awoke, warm in his bed in the back room at P3. Bianca and Parker sat in the room with him, silently waiting for him to awaken. As his eyes fluttered open, Bianca rushed to his side, kneeling as she placed her hand on his own. Parker watched from the ratty armchair he was occupying, merely observing the situation.

"Chris! How are you feeling?"

"Like my big brother just used me as his punching bag." He answered wryly, wincing as he propped himself up on his elbows. "Oh, wait; he did."

"Well, at least your sparkling wit wasn't damaged." She pushed herself up, Chris scooting over to make room for her to sit on the bedside. "Do you need anything?"

"I actually am pretty thirsty." He replied, his eyes shifting to Parker before he looked at her.

"Oh, so that's code for 'Bianca, please get me water'." She asked with a smirk. "Because you and your cousin have to talk, right?"

"I love you." He replied with a fake pout and she playfully slapped him on the arm. He truly yelped. "Ow! I'm still sore!"

"Oh, you'll survive." She rose from the bed and left with a roll of her eyes, aware of the two men waiting to find themselves alone. She figured she needed to give an update to everyone outside anyway.

With her gone, Chris gritted his teeth and let his head fall back onto the wall. He wasn't just sore; he was in some pain, more than usual. He was vaguely aware of what had happened before he passed out, but still unsure of how he had gotten from the streets of San Francisco to the club safely.

"How are you, really?" Parker asked.

"You tell me. How am I, really?"

Parker shrugged. "You've been all healed. The pain you're in, it's just muscle soreness and other healing that your body needs to do. All other open wounds, life threatening internal bleeding and broken bones have been taken care of."

Chris wrinkled his face in confusion; he had remembered something like that happening, but it was really a blank. "How did I get back here? And who healed me? One of Wyatt's guys?"

"You don't remember?"

"Would I have asked it I had?" Chris asked back, annoyed. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling good..."

"It's fine." Parker replied nonchalantly, trying to stay patient with Chris' ornery attitude. He sighed to himself; he was only 17 and sometimes he felt as if he were the only one keeping things smooth and running, like he was the one who was the adult. Sometimes he just wished things were different...but then again, he supposed, who didn't?

"I am sorry, I know, it's a lot you've been dealing with these last couple days." Chris pushed on, apologizing. "With them being here, and Wyatt...I know it's hard."

"Yeah, well, it's not like its cake for anyone else, so I'm sure I'll get through it." He replied with a smirk. "But anyway...one of our renegade whitelighters brought you in."

"Who?" Chris asked. The renegade whitelighters were certain whitelighters who had deferred from the Powers That Be and had run rogue once Wyatt had begun to go off the rails. There were only a few left around in the city and they all knew each other.

"Um...Max." He replied, not meeting his eyes. "Really, it doesn't matter; all that matters is that you're alive."

"I'd still like to give my thanks." Chris replied. "Either way, I think it'll be awhile before I get to do that. We have a bigger problem to take care of still." He paused. "How is she taking all of this?"

Parker shrugged; he meant Piper obviously. "Not easy. I mean, she's taken it much better than I would ever expect, but I suppose she might be in shock." He sat down across from Chris, finally looking at him. "She is worried about you."

"I was worried about that." He replied somberly. "I really didn't want her to know."

"Maybe its better this way," Parker suggested. "She wanted to see you when you woke up. Do you want me to tell her it's okay to come in?"

Chris remained silent for a few moments, biting his lip. "I...I don't mean this badly, but I don't know if I'm ready for that just yet."

"She'll understand." Parker said rising. "I have to go though, I have to meet someone. I'll send Bianca back in though?"

Chris studied his cousin, the sudden shadiness striking him. He wanted to ask who, what, where, but he didn't want to press the matter. "Yeah. Be careful where you go though. Wyatt'll be on the war path."

"No, yeah, I know. Don't worry, I've made precautions. I'll see you later cuz." He replied with a smile. As he slipped out, it was as if with perfect timing that Bianca slipped in with his water.

"What was that all about?" She asked. Chris just stared at the door, shrugging before looking at her.

"I wish I knew."

-----

On the shore of the San Francisco Bay, under remnants of the Golden Gate Bridge, Parker sat, waiting upon a muddy bank, thinking to himself how ridiculous the heightened secrecy of this was. He sighed as blue lights appeared, the tinkling of orbs signaling Leo's arrival.

"Sorry, I was kept up." Leo started. "How is Chris?"

"Nice to see you too Uncle Leo." Parker replied with a smile. "He woke up, he's fine."

"And what did you tell him?"

"You mean did I bust you out and tell him that you're the one that saved his life? No, no I didn't, I lied and omitted you from any detail."

"Thank you."

"You know, I don't quite understand still why it's not okay for you to actually be around him." Parker commented, rising to his feet.

"I'm trying to do what he wants, Parker."

"That was almost 6 years ago, Uncle Leo."

"So he wants to see me?" Leo asked, a small doubtful smile on his face. The silence stretched out, affirming that Chris surely didn't. "Let's just get down to this."

"What happened to you Uncle Leo? I mean, you're nothing but business anymore."

"What happened to me? Did you really just ask me that?" Leo asked. "My wife is dead, my son hates me, and my other son is the ruler of all evil. Two women I thought of as my own little sisters are dead, as is one of their daughters and my remaining nieces and nephews were forced to grow up way, way too fast." He shook his head in disbelief. "Did you need me to continue? Cause I do have a lot more."

Parker bit his lip, slightly ashamed. "He doesn't hate you."

"Oh really? Because I'm pretty sure the last thing he ever said to me was 'Leo Wyatt, I hate you and I never want to see you again.' I'm just trying to do what he asks, for once."

"He was 15! 15 year olds say a lot of hateful things they don't mean, especially to their parents."

"I didn't come when he needed me the most." Leo was serious. "And his mother...your mother, Paige, they all died because of it."

"You did what you were able to do. You had something important going on Up There, and you didn't know that was going to happen, so for the one time in your life, you put the world on mute and the unimaginable happened. You couldn't help not hearing him, Uncle Leo. And, he's your son. I know he doesn't hate you; I'm an empath, remember?" He grinned. "I just think he's really, really angry at you."

"See, right there." Leo replied, a sad smile on his face. "Grown up too soon. No 17 year should have that much insight."

"Whatever. I just consider myself leaps and bounds ahead of everybody else my age." He said with a grin. "But we'll get back to that later. You said you needed to see me about what's going on right now."

"Right." Leo said, switching back to his business like demeanor. "I know you all down here think the few of us remaining are neutral and just minding out own business but it's not what we're doing. You have to remember, Wyatt is my son too."

"Believe me, no one will ever forget." Parker replied with a sarcastic role of the eye. Leo replied with a scolding look, but continued undeterred.

"I still see Wyatt sometimes, talk to him, and because I'm not in a Resistance against him, he talks back. And while it's not normally near pleasant, I'm still his father, and I raised him...mostly." He added at Parker's pointed look. It was no secret that Leo had been somewhat absent as a father as the boys grew older. "Anyway, I can tell his personality and I can read between the lines with him. If I took an official stance against him with the Resistance...I really just don't want to think about what he'd be capable of doing to me."

"So instead you just play nice and neutral?" Parker replied sarcastically. "Yeah, that's what you should do."

"You're not listening to me!" Leo exclaimed, surprising Parker with the uncharacteristic surge of emotion. "We're not nice and neutral; those of us who are left of the Elder's and other higher powers, we read. We listen, and watch recordings of conversations, memories, events that we are able to find record of, everything! We have been researching the past 24 years to see if we can find anywhere where something may have gone wrong." He ended with a sigh, as if relieved to get the news of his chest. Parker sat, stumped.

"Wow. Why haven't you ever said anything about this before?"

"We try and keep tight-lipped. Part of our advantage is that I am Wyatt's father and he lets things slip from time to time to me, things he'd never let anyone else know. That and I have a connection with him. Taking a stronger stance, or news getting out that we've been spying on him, working against him? He'd sever the connection and God knows what else."

"Advantage?" Parker asked. "You're talking as if you made some headway."

"We seem to have."

Parker stared expectantly. "Well?!"

"Well," Leo began, drawing it out unintentionally. "We think we know what turned Wyatt. And we also think we know how we might be able to stop it."

Jubilance shot through Parker like flame and he had to physically remind himself to not get too excited. "How? When? What?"

Leo held up a hand to calm him and his questioning. "Well, actually, that's why I called you here to tell you it. We have a plan, and it just so happens to involve the Charmed Ones."

------

_Thwonk_.

A ball bounced back to Chris on the bed and sat at the foot of it on the floor. He stared at it for a moment, contemplating getting out of bed to get it, but shrugged and rested back against the wall. He flicked his wrist up, raising the ball into mid-air, and throwing it at stringy net hanging on the back of the door. It swiftly fell through the net and bounced on the floor. With a sigh, he swung his legs over the bed's edge and relaxed. He needed to get to work, and he needed to, as much as he hated to, talk to the Charmed Ones.

A knock sounded at the door. As he reached for a white undershirt and pulled it over his head, he replied with a muffled invite in.

As he looked up, he came face to face with Piper entering the room. He looked away quickly. "Oh. It's you."

"Yeah, yeah, I wanted to talk to you...after earlier."

"Yeah. I figured you might."

"Parker said you were a little uncomfortable still."

"Oh, he did? I'll have to thank him." Chris bit back, easing into a chair behind his desk.

"This isn't easy going for me either, you know." She began slowly, standing back. He avoided her eyes, leaning back in his chair and staring at his hands as his fiddled with his fingers. "I mean, seeing him, like that...and then finding out that you...that you're..."

"A Halliwell as well? I guess it's pretty shocking." His lips curved into a wry smile.

"That you're my son, as well. And yeah, shocking is a tad bit of an understatement." She laughed nervously, then hesitantly sat on the couch adjacent to the desk. "I didn't come in here to throw around an accusation, or get you mad at me. I...I just wanted to see if you were okay."

He looked up at her then and he could see the nervousness on her face, and tears that were shining in her eyes. She was afraid he didn't like her, didn't want to see her, that he was just against her, and he knew it. How else was she to think after the way he'd been treating her and his aunts? He sighed.

"I'm okay, in a relative sense. I'm not dead, so yeah, I'm okay."

"Why didn't you tell me? Before we went, why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't I? Didn't I hint at it, when I showed you around San Francisco?"

Her cheeks burned. "I suppose...yes, you did. And I'm sorry I didn't get it, it's just..."

"In your time, Wyatt's only 6 months old. You won't find out you're pregnant again until well after his 1st birthday. It's understandable that that, in itself, would make you blind to pretty much anything else." He chuckled at her nervousness, trying to lighten the mood. "It's okay, Piper. I'm okay."

"Okay, well. What now?"

He studied her, sitting there, playing with his hands in a same nervous fashion that he had been earlier and the reality of it made the stubborn fire inside of him extinguish. As much as he wanted to avoid the truth, or deny it, it had been staring him in the face since they'd arrived. The way she played with her hands as she was uncomfortable, the way she smiled wryly, the way she moved or smelled...it was his mother, just younger. And it was him. One didn't just inherit their parents' looks, but also part of their personality, a part of themselves and at any age that she appeared, he was going to have accept that he couldn't just ignore this. He swallowed.

"Well, I guess we need to figure out how to get you guys home." He paused. "Would you like to help me brainstorm a little?"

She smiled and nodded; she recognized a proverbial olive branch when she was offered one. "I would like that."

"Okay then." He said, lurching forward and clapping his hands together. "Let's get started, hm? If you want to invite the aunts in too, you can. I was gonna call Bianca in, everybody else too."

Piper smiled, noting he hadn't even caught himself as he referred to her sisters. She nodded. "I'll go get them all. Cary, Callie, Prue too?"

He nodded, and then stopped. "Is Parker back yet?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so..."

"Does anybody know where he went?"

"He just said he was meeting with someone." She shrugged. "He's only been gone about an hour."

"Yeah, well..." He sighed. "Just bring everyone in here, and then if he's not back in half an hour, we'll go looking for him. In light of recent events, none of the known members of our Resistance should be out for long."

She nodded and got up, pausing as she stood in front of the dilapidated sofa. "You know, I know this is weird and out of place, and awkward but..." She hesitated, wondering if she should say what she wanted to, then continued. People should hear things that would make themselves feel better about their actions. "But I wanted to say, that she would be proud of you. And I don't even know how to say it, because I'm her, just...younger, but if I had raised you...even though I guess I will raise you..." She shrugged. "I would be proud of you. And so she would be. And I am, I guess."

It was an awkward spiel, but it hit its mark. His heart swelled and he felt his throat finally swell with emotion, so he could only nod. "Thank you, Piper. That...that means a lot."

She nodded in response. "I'm gonna go get everybody, and then we can start."

She left without another word and he sighed, sitting up and grabbing notes and blank papers. If they were going to be brainstorming and figuring it out, they would have to be prepared.

------

Wyatt sat in his office where he had interrogated the man before having him killed days earlier. Two fingers pressed against pursed lips as he gazed out over the city of San Francisco, trying to guess which alleyway, which street his little brother's body had been left to die, to give out alone and cold. He had to hold himself in place and remind himself that Chris had betrayed him; had gone against him too many times and now, had existed as a real threat to his power. It was kill or be killed; he had no choice.

He had to keep telling himself that.

He spun the chair around with a growl of frustration. The early morning had come; it was almost 1 in the morning and he had expected someone to come back with Chris' body. The thought of it made him mournful for a moment, but he had to remind himself of what he saw as the only truth. And he hadn't killed his brother; if Chris hadn't survived, it was only because he wasn't strong enough.

The thought that Chris had survived suddenly struck him and he frowned. It was no secret that he had other magical allies.

As if to affirm his suspicions, two of his highest ranking men strode into the room, heads down and nervous. "Well?" He demanded.

"He was picked up sir."

With an aggravated sigh, Wyatt closed his eyes and began to reach out. It was possible, by concentrating, that he could pick up his family's presence from hundreds of miles away.

And there it was; like a bright, shining beacon, Chris' presence shined in his mind. He growled in frustration, partially due to the uncontrollable sliver of relief that coursed through his veins. Chris was alive.

He couldn't pin-point it though. "That's it." Wyatt spat. "I want the location of their little rebellion located and I want to be informed of it. Yesterday!"

"Yes sir...although, it may take a day or so..."

The man was cut off, making a gurgling noise as Wyatt's eyes narrowed and he was lifted into the air. "Now, Kenny; you know I hate those pessimistic outlooks. Let's try a more glass half full approach, hm? Can you do that?"

Kenny struggled to talk, to mouth something, to exclaim and beg to be released. Just as he looked to be fading, Wyatt dropped him to the ground where he writhed, clutching at his chest, coughing hard. The other man stood still at attention, awaiting orders. Wyatt relaxed, sitting back in his chair. "I want that site found. You have 72 hours to get word back to me. Prepare everyone for a full scale attack. We are going to finish this ridiculous uprising, once in for all."

"Yes sir." The standing man said. As Wyatt swiveled his chair to face the window paneling once more to overlook the city, the man at attention kicked the one named Kenny, who was still bent over, willing his trachea to stop throbbing. Kenny yelped softly, before pulling himself to his feet.

"Yes sir." He echoed in a whisper.

"And another thing."

"Yes, Lord Wyatt?"

"Find who rescued him." He ordered, staring blankly at the city. "I would like to have a chat with the man who found and healed him. Start with my father."

"Yes sir." The men said together, relieved at an assignment seemingly much easier to the first. They exited then without another sound, leaving Lord Wyatt Halliwell to sit brooding over his domain, a calculating glint never softening in his gaze. It was time to end this...one way or another.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay so

Okay so. I received a PM and some comments about a few inaccuracies and would like to apologize for any confusion it may have caused you...its really just two or three typos, but to make sure that we're all on the same page, they are in the future at the moment. However, the past they left was roughly June 2003, about five months after Wyatt was born. There have been points where those in the future have speculated differently, but it's mostly just because no one but the Charmed One's know the exact date from which they left. In the future, it's roughly June of 2025, cause Chris is 20, and will be turning 21 in October of that year. I figure it's about 2 or 3 months before Chris would've come to the past. Okay, so I hope I cleared any confusion I may have caused.

Also, I'm so sorry with how long it's taken to get a new chapter up, but I'm so busy with my final semester of college right now; I have this huge project that is taking up all of my time, not to mention work...so it's gonna be slow until graduation. But I am still excited about this story and I know how I want it to go and even end, so it will get done-I promise. For now, here's the next update. I hope you all enjoy :)

* * *

It was late by the time Parker made his way back to the club hideout. The bar was dark, but he knew his way around well enough he could walk it blind if he needed to.

He maneuvered his way to his room and sighed as he closed the door behind him. He was happy to have escaped his older cousin. He and Chris had always been close after Wyatt had gone south. Prue had their youngest sister; Cary had Callie, which left the two of them to each other. Chris worried about him more, because he felt there was more to lose there, but Parker knew he could take care of himself. And if he couldn't, he could always call for help.

He sat on his bed with a sigh, relieved to be going to bed. It was almost 1 in the morning-he had been gone for three hours and was just happy to be getting some sleep after the turbulent day they'd had. He lay down, not even getting under the covers or changing.

"Welcome home."

Parker closed his eyes. "Crap."

The light came on, and Chris sat across from the twin bed in an armchair, which was most of everything that fit in the cramped room. Parker sat up and ran a hand over his head.

"Where were you all night?" Chris asked, face hard and serious. "You know how dangerous it is out there right now."

"I'm not the one they're looking for." Parker pointed out. Chris scowled.

"But they'd take you; if anything, to use as bait." He leaned forward in his seat. "Now I'll ask again. Where were you?"

"I was meeting with an informant, okay? He had some good information on Wyatt." Parker replied petulantly.

Chris stared at him, considering the admittance. Parker's face was serious and irritated and he decided he believed him. But it wasn't the only thing he wanted to talk to him about.

"I talked to Max. Asked him to come and visit, so I could thank him."

Parker went stiff and looked away. "Oh really? That's...that's cool--"

"He had no idea what I was talking about." Chris interrupted flatly. "Said that he had been with Cary the entire time and only saw me when they got back here to check in."

Parker swallowed hard, feeling like his tongue had swelled up after swallowing a mouthful of sand. "Um...yeah..."

"Who brought me back here Parker?" Chris snapped. When his cousin didn't answer, he sighed hard. "It was him, wasn't it?"

He wasn't going to deny it. He wasn't going to lie in the face of an outright, direct question. "Yes." He whispered.

"God dammit Park! I told you to never call him!" Chris exclaimed.

"I didn't!"

"Then how did he know about what happened?"

"I don't know! Why don't you call him and work this out with him yourself? Cause I'm sick and tired of being your go between with your daddy issues! Christ!" He scoffed, rising as he removed his shirt to get into a sleep shirt, since he was now up and angry. "Poor you, Chris. Your Dad is still alive and cares about you. Sounds like the least of your problems to me."

Chris was too surprised to say anything back. Parker hardly ever fought with him, but it seemed the stress from the past few days had gotten to him. He stayed silent for a few moments and younger man didn't say anything as he changed with punctuated movements.

"I'll let you sleep." He replied finally, rising from the armchair. "But I'd like to know what that informant had to tell you, so we'll meet tomorrow."

"Fine." The shortness of his answer told Chris he was still stewing and probably would be angry until he fell asleep.

He headed to the room's door. "You know, I just worry about you. I'm sorry I came off so harsh."

"I know." His cousin replied, back still to the door. "Goodnight Chris. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night Parker." He clicked off the light and left, closing the door softly behind him and only then was he aware of the pit in his stomach growing larger and larger. Leo had come to his rescue, at great risk to himself. And if Parker hadn't called him, who had? Wyatt? Had his brothers' conscience maybe have gotten to him?

The thought was fleeting. There was no way his brother had sent their father after Chris. He mulled it over. Maybe there was a possibility his father looked over him, actually kept tabs on him. The thought made him feel a little bad; had his father actually been looking out over him all along, after he had been so hateful?

As he joined Bianca in their room, he crawled under the covers with the idea that he would, soon, meet with his father after so many years and have a talk with him. He would wait, however, until after the Charmed Ones were home, mostly for the fact that then, hopefully, things would calm down and not be so crazy.

He would later think to himself that he should've stayed awake. Popped some Red Bulls and a few potions, but it didn't matter. He had fallen into a dream filled slumber that night. Or rather, a nightmare.

_He found himself in the Manor, years before when had still been able to call it home. His mother and aunts sat in the kitchen, arguing good-naturedly among them. He knew this story, yet there was nothing he could do differently._

_He was the only one there; he approached his mother. "I want to help."_

_Piper, older than her Charmed self that was visiting now, turned to her son and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Chris, we've talked about this..."_

_"I'm ready!" He insisted. "I've been at Magic School for 2 years now. I'm at the top of my class. I could really help."_

_"Christopher Perry, I don't care."_

_"Mom, please." He asked. "These guys could be too much for only 3 of you to take on."_

_"All the more reason for me to not let you help." _

_"You'd let Wyatt do it if he asked." He replied, accusatory. She started, looking at her sisters. It was true, in a way. They all knew Wyatt was powerful, as well as extremely skilled, but even that didn't mean she'd be fine with Wyatt participating. _

_"That's not true. I don't want either of my sons in that kind of danger." He looked dejected, though and she sighed, always unable to completely say no. "But we're not going to confront them for another day or so. You're dad is busy today, so we can't bother him..."_

_Chris snorted. "When is he not 'busy'?" He sniped, using air quotes. Instead of his mother's usual slight nod when he aptly accused his father of something, she actually seemed to get angry._

_"This is important, Christopher. And it's something you boys don't know about. He can't, and won't, be pulled away." _

_Her sharp tone struck him, but it stopped him from pushing further. "Never mind then. I didn't mean to push it." _

_His petulant tone softened her. "I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just very important that he goes to this...meeting." She shook her head. "Why don't you go upstairs and I'll call you down for dinner. I'm making your favorite."_

_He cracked a small smile. "Homemade mac and cheese?"_

_"Extra cheese." _

_He grinned bigger and kissed her quickly on the cheek, the argument set aside at the prospect of his favorite dish. "Thanks mom!" He took off, bounding up the stairs in two's. _

_Flash-forward; it was only an hour later that he heard a crash over the music coming from his ear buds. Curiously, he removed them, and could hear shouts and more crashes. As he suddenly felt a huge stress wash over him, coming from his mother. He immediately jumped from his bed, his stomach churning wildly with worry. He hardly ever was able to feel his mother's distress; it only came in extreme circumstances. _

_He orbed downstairs and materialized just in time to see an energy ball fly right at him. He hit the ground. _

_Piper noticed his arrival and worry overtook caution. "Chris! Back upstairs, now!"_

_"No! I'm gonna help you!" He rose to his feet, wide eyes taking in the scene. As of his arrival, it was 3 on 9. One more for them could help their odds. Against her wishes, he dug in._

_They fought for a while, so long that they all last track of time and long enough so that Chris soon grew tired. And as he let his guard down for half a second was when it seemed to fall apart._

_He was across the room, and it wasn't his fault. But what happened would haunt him for the rest of his life._

_He heard the scream and his head snapped in the direction from where it came. He saw his mother, eyes wide and mouth open in shock grabbing her side, blood pouring out. He screamed her name; the world felt like it was moving in slow motion and he orbed to her side in time to catch her as she fell. He didn't even notice the demons._

_As he lowered her to the ground, he noticed that Paige and Phoebe had dropped their guard as they realized what happened, staring in horror at the scene. The remaining demons took advantage of it. Phoebe, closest to Chris, didn't even see as the man in black threw an energy ball at her, hitting her just like his mother had been wounded. And he heard as another crept up behind Paige and snapped her neck like a twig._

_"We're done here." One of them growled, and they vanished. It didn't really matter though; at the moment, it was all white noise. Chris could only stare at his mother, her face growing increasingly ashen, brown eyes wide and bright with tears. They soon rolled out of the corners of her eyes, and a wobbly smile appeared on her face as she mustered enough strength to talk to him for the last moments she drew breath._

_"Oh baby," She whispered, raising a hand to his face to, rubbing it with her thumb. "You did so great. You helped so much..."_

_"But it's wasn't enough..." He choked on his words, realizing then that he was in mid sob. Over his shock, he thought to himself how ridiculous he was being. He should be calling for help. "Dad!! Wyatt!! I need you right now!!"_

_"Shh, no, Chris...there's not enough time. Just let me look at you." She smiled again, a dribble of blood escaping from the corner of her lips. He choke on a sob and grabbed her hand at his face, squeezing as if trying to transfer some of his life into her, non-verbally begging her not to go. _

_"No, no, no, no, no! I'm sorry, mom, I'm sorry I got in the way..."_

_"This is NOT your fault." She said with surprising strength for the state she was in. She took a deep breath. "You...are amazing; you are so talented, so gifted, so smart and so good. And I love you...I love you so...so..." Her voice faded and her eyes began to flutter._

_"NO!" He yelled. Her eyes opened, staring almost confusedly, before focusing back on his. She smiled again, this time her teeth tinged red._

_"Tell them I love them." She whispered. "I love you baby...so, so much."_

_Her eyes closed and she exhaled one last time. He stared for a few moments in shock and disbelief before lowering his head to her chest and sobbing into it, grasping her arms as if to awaken her with the pressure. _

_Coughing close by drew him from his anguish. He raised his tear soaked face to see his Aunt Phoebe struggling as well. He scrambled over; no one should have to die alone._

_He knelt by her side and noticed her crying as well and he grabbed her hand, fresh tears rising. "Aunt Phoebe..."_

_"Is she...are they..." He began to cry again and she closed her eyes. "Oh jeez, we've made a real mess of things haven't we?"_

_"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."_

_"Oh, Chris honey, not you...you did wonderful. We just..." She breathed in deeply, and he realized she only had a minute or so left as well. "Weren't prepared."_

_"Not you too. Please...we can't loose all of you. Not at once...please." He was pleading, but not really with her. He was praying that someone would hear him. Someone would grant this one thing he needed. She smiled sadly._

_"We'll always be with you, Chris. You may not know it, but..." Her breathing hitched and her body stiffened. "Chris, tell my kids I love them. Tell Coop I love him, tell everyone I love them. And don't forget you...I love you."_

_"Aunt Phoebe, no..."_

_She smiled, feeling the life slipping from her slowly. "You were always one of my favorites."_

_He had to emit one small chuckle; it was a running joke among all the aunts, nieces and nephews. "You too."_

_"Me too..." She murmured, her eyes closing and her chest falling for one last time. He sat there, the corpses of his family surrounding him. He sat straight and still for a few moments, the shock and horror of it all washing over him, and he hung his head, crawled back over near his mother and cried._

"Chris?"

He shot up in bed, his pillow sweat soaked. He was gasping for air and he felt as if he'd been crying. He looked at Bianca.

"I was wondering when you were gonna have one." She whispered in a concerned tone.

He shrugged her off. "I'm fine." He stressed, jumping out of bed quickly and heading into his bathroom, slamming the door shut. She sat in the bed, staring down at the covers. He had been twitching in his sleep, moaning and eventually, she had seen the tears roll down his face. It had been awhile since he'd had a nightmare and relived that horrible day, but they all knew it was just a matter of time before another one presented itself, with the Charmed Ones being there and all.

She got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom, entering it when she heard the shower was running. Steam rose, fogging the mirror and glass sliding door. She stripped off her tank top and night shorts and slid the door open, gracefully stepping in behind his motionless stance as he let the water just wash over him. Without a word, she closed the door and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his upper back.

With her arms around his torso and her head resting softly against him, he felt his stoic, harsh demeanor crumbling. Echoes of his aunts and mothers words to him bounced around inside until he felt like he would explode. He felt Bianca behind him, her hands moving soothingly on his chest and did all he felt like doing; he hung his head, letting the water flow all over him, and cried.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, Piper watched as the club became alive with numbers of Resistance members. They scoured charts, made potions, sat in groups chattering about what was to come, or what had happened.

Her eyes found her grown son. He moved around everyone, checking up on progresses before often going back to his own work. Bent over a large chart, it was almost as if he felt his eyes on her and he looked up, meeting her gaze. He frowned and turned his back to her.

She felt a stab on hurt. Earlier in the morning, when she had greeted him, he had ignored her, walking past with barely a glance. She had no idea what would've changed overnight. They had had such a good talk and as they had explored plans to return her sisters and her to their normal time, they had even joked and gotten along fine.

Her emotion must've been written on her face. "Don't take it personally."

She turned to see Bianca behind her. "How do I do that? Last night, he was fine with me...dare I even say happy to have me?"

"He's still happy to have you. He just doesn't show it as well as you'd like."

"So what? What did I do between last night and this morning?"

Bianca sighed; Chris was going to kill her. "You can't say anything about me talking to you about this. He'll flip a lid."

Piper nodded. "Fine."

"Okay." Bianca grabbed her hand and walked her to a corner of the club, out of the way of so many prying eyes. "Chris doesn't want you and your sisters to know the details of your...deaths. And I'm not going to tell you any of that. What I will tell you, is he was there with the 3 of you when you went, and he was alone." The look of horror on Piper's face hardly deterred Bianca. "So, then you guys got here, we all knew it was a matter of time before he started to have a nightmare."

"Nightmare?" She asked, confused and saddened.

"He relives it. It really upsets him, usually for days. It was only a matter of time, especially given what happened yesterday. Don't worry too much about it; he just needs to deal with it in his time."

Piper barely heard the rest as she stared at Chris past Bianca's shoulders. She could feel tears burning her eyes and she saw him look up at her once more, meeting her eyes for a moment as he held her gaze. He could see she was upset about something-and he saw Bianca near her, so he figured she had mentioned the dream-and he just stared back. For a moment, she saw a mournful expression pass across his face but it tapered away as quickly as it came. He turned away.

"That's horrible." She whispered, her eyes meeting Bianca's again. "Thank you, though, for letting me know. I'll try and stay out of his way until he's ready."

Bianca opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted as attention was drawn to Chris. He had dropped a glass, shattering it on the ground as the water spilled everywhere. His face morphed to a frown and his head whipped towards where Parker's room was. He stormed over in that direction, fury replacing the frown and he threw the door open with hardly any effort at all. Those near the room began to murmur.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" They heard Chris demand. While the sisters and Bianca couldn't see, the murmurings soon found their way to them. A teenage girl turned to them, blue eyes alight with the excitement of new drama and gossip.

"It's him, the elder. Chris' father!"

* * *

"Answer me. What are you doing here?" Chris demanded, now in the room with the door closed to keep prying eyes from watching. Parker sat on his bed, and Leo stood as far across the room as possible. He stared at his son, who had fury in his eyes, his expression hard and stony.

"He's the informant, Chris." Parker cut in. "He's the one with the information."

"Well isn't that convenient?" He sneered. "Piper's here and suddenly, he wants to help."

"It's not like that." Leo spoke, finally meeting his son's eyes.

"Bull. It's exactly like that." Chris shot back. Unable to hold his father's angst filled gaze much longer, he tore his eyes away and began to pace in the small area.

"It does involve them. But he wouldn't tell me why." Parker mentioned. "But why are you here? I thought I was going to talk to him first, then call for you."

Leo's face sagged and he seemed to be tired and hopeless. "Yeah, I know. But it seems that a few of Wyatt's clansmen showed up at our offices looking for me, so I need to stay low for awhile. Figured this was the best place for that."

Chris' head snapped up. "Up There? Looking for you?"

Leo nodded. "There was one girl who survived...a page. I got the story from her."

"What about everyone else?" Parker asked. Leo didn't reply; he just looked down.

"There was one girl who survived." Leo repeated. "Everyone else is gone."

"Why didn't Wyatt just come for you himself?" Chris asked, the discomfort of the situation forgotten at the moment. Leo shrugged.

"Apparently the clansmen were told to bring me to him. He wanted to talk...and I didn't get a good feeling from it."

"What would you have done to piss him off? I mean, you pretty much stay out of both of our lives." Chris sniped.

Leo looked at him, his eyes knowing and sad. Chris stared at him for a moment, truly unnerved by the emotion in his fathers gaze, and suddenly it struck him. Wyatt knew it was Leo that had saved him from the street. His brother had left him to die, wanted his weakness to overtake him, and suddenly, an outside variable changed all of it. More people were dead tonight, all because Leo had saved his youngest son's life. Chris looked away.

"Oh."

"It's not your fault." Leo filled in. Parker looked between the two, bewildered. He still had no idea what had gone wrong, until he kept looking between the two. Chris avoided his father's eyes while Leo looked like he wanted to comfort his son but couldn't. Then it struck him.

"Oh." He echoed Chris. He looked between the uncomfortable father and son pair and stood. "You know, I think you guys have some stuff to work out. I'm gonna go let everyone know what's going on, then we'll figure out the rest of everything when you're ready." Chris raised his eyes to his cousin.

_No! Don't leave me alone with him! _

Parker turned back to him, looking in his eyes. To Leo, it would look as if they were merely staring at each other, but he knew better; they were talking, most likely about him.

_He's your dad, Chris. Work it out. I'll be back in a little bit._

Parker turned and left, leaving the pair by themselves in the small crammed room with little to do, and even less to say.

* * *

He exited the room, unexpectedly meeting the eyes of most of those from the Resistance. They stared at him with wide eyes for only a moment before they erupted into questions.

"Was it Leo?"

"What does he want?"

"What does Chris want to do?"

"Where's Chris?"

"What's going on?"

"Everyone be quiet!" Parker exclaimed. "Chris and Leo are busy for awhile. They deserve their privacy and due to the personal nature of this, we're going to resume this meeting later tonight. For now, if you all could go to the Wharf Center, we'll join you there later."

They didn't listen. They kept talking, exclaiming they had rights to know what was going on, and they wanted to know. He felt overwhelmed; he wasn't the head of this for a reason. He couldn't take the pressure or the expectation; he was only 17. He sighed and with a shake of his head, turned on his heel and walked away. When many made the effort to follow him, Bianca jumped into place.

"Everyone settle down! Now, this is what we're gonna do…."

Parker didn't hear the rest; he was already walking down a corridor that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Phoebe, naturally inquisitive, followed safely behind him. They seemed to walk for awhile as he muttered unintelligibly to himself, when he suddenly stopped and turned.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Following you. Didn't you all say it's safer we go places in pairs?" She asked. A smile pulled at the corners of his lips.

"You can't use our own rhetoric against us."

"Says who?" She asked in reply, a smirk settling on her face. He gave in to the smile and shook his head. He began to walk again, gesturing for her to fall in beside him. She smiled and joined him.

As they walked, making small talk, she began to pick up on little nuances and personality qualities that seemed familiar to her. Not for the first time, the thought crossed her mind that Parker may be closer to the family than just good friends. She tried to study him nonchalantly, looking at his face or his way of speaking.

After about a mile or so, the tunnel came to a flat dirt wall. They both stopped and Phoebe looked around, pursing her lips. "I guess we got to turn around then."

It was his turn to smirk. "You obviously are still new at this magic stuff." He turned to the wall.

"Barrier that keeps us here, Knowing something beautiful is near, Drop the wall and let us spy, the beauty that nature hides." The wall began to fade and disappeared into dust,

"Wow. Impressive."

"Yeah. I've learned from the best." He nodded, gesturing for her to walk first. She emerged to a small pond, surrounded by trees as it glistened in the sunlight. It seemed a world apart from the rest, an oasis in the middle of war torn San Francisco.

"Where are we?"

"Just a place, deep in the park. Wyatt knows about it, he just doesn't worry about it too much." He shrugged. "Plus, he's not too worried about me ever. With my passive abilities, I'm relatively harmless." He sat at the side of the lakes edge, picking up a stone and skipping it across the water.

"I don't know about that." Phoebe replied, sitting next to him. "You did a pretty good job on that wall."

"I guess." He replied with a shrug. "I appreciate my powers, even though they're not as active as everyone else's."

"I know how you feel." She said, trying to empathize with him. "I mean, you and I have similar abilities, and it wasn't until I began to levitate that I felt I really contributed to the group." She frowned in thought. "Can you levitate?"

"I have a couple more abilities you all don't know about. We all do." He replied, side stepping an actual yes or no reply. They sat in silence, which seemed what Parker had wanted to do. But, as he knew, Phoebe was not one who could tolerate stillness for long and within a few minutes, she began speaking once more.

"Were both your parent's witches and sorcerers? Magical at all?"

He slid a glance at her from the side. "You ask a lot of questions. Anyone ever tell you that?"

"Yeah, well. It's the only way to find stuff out."

"Just remember-curiosity killed the cat."

"But did you know satisfaction brought him back?" She asked with a grin. He just stared at her, an unreadable look on his face.

"I have heard that before." He replied softly, turning to look back over the lake. "Why did you follow me here Phoebe?"

He sounded so forlorn as he looked away from her, she felt bad. He was alone, with only his sister and Chris as his close confidants; Chris seemed to be too busy at times to help him, and his sister and he didn't appear to even be that close. She reached out and touched his hand lightly.

"You seemed a little frustrated. I thought you might need someone to talk to."

He looked at her hand on his before letting his gaze meet hers. Her face was so compassionate, so caring and so concerned. He swallowed hard and moved his hand. He couldn't do this; he wasn't like Chris, wasn't as strong as him. He couldn't look his mother in the face and act like it meant nothing to him that she was here, when it meant everything.

He remembered back to almost 7 years before, when he had walked in on Chris amongst the massacre of his family. Chris had just been sitting in the middle of all of it, knees pulled up under his chin; Parker was the only one coming home. He was 10 at the time; his younger sisters were at a girl scout meeting, while Cary and Callie were off at magic school for something he didn't even remember. He alone had walked in to find the chaos his life was about to become.

"Chris is just having a hard time right now, and with Leo showing up and you guys being here, he's just really pushed to his limit. But he's really the only person everyone will follow; I can't get them to listen to me like he can."

"You're only 17, Parker. Chris is only 20; you guys are carrying so much on yourselves."

"There's no one else to do it. We're the only ones to stand up to Wyatt."

She pursed her lips in thought, and merely sighed. "Well, then, Chris is lucky to have such good friends to stand beside him. It's too bad that we're such a burden to him."

He stared at her thoughtfully. There was a hidden message in her words as she praised him and the others for standing beside Chris, a question and an implication. Phoebe was nothing if not perceptive, and he figured she was questioning all of this. It was only a matter of time until she figured everything out.

"You're not a burden." He replied finally in a strong tone. "It's just hard on him-being around her and you all again…it's hard for you to know who he is. And it's just hard to be around you, when you've been gone so long."

She could feel a dull ache radiating off of him, which as strange because she knew he had himself cloaked from her. Maybe, it seemed, his pain was so intense it escaped that barrier; although she was still new to the empath thing, so she could've been reading him wrong entirely. That seemed unlikely, though; as he spoke, she could tell he wasn't just speaking about Chris. She bit her lip, and swallowed hard.

"Well. We better be getting back. We wouldn't want to stress him out any more now, would we?"

"I think that's probably a good idea." He replied with a nod. They rose from their spot and headed back to the hidden tunnel within the trees. They made their way quietly through the tunnel, trying to make small talk to make the walk less awkward. But as they returned to the club, Phoebe was almost positive that these young friends of Chris' were much more.

The crowd had quieted and dispersed; Leo and Chris were still in his room, and Piper and Paige had managed to stay off by themselves. Without a goodbye or a reason, Parker peeled off by himself with only a nod to Phoebe, leaving her standing alone for a moment to think about the last hour she had spent with him.

He approached his cousins and sister who were waiting outside the door, eagerly trying to listen in as well as trying to appear concerned. Prue shot him a look as he got to the door.

"Where have you been? We've been worried."

"I went to the pond, chill out." He replied, exasperated. "I just needed to get away."

"Yeah, well. Next time you need to get away, let someone know. It's a dangerous time out there for everyone." She said. He wanted to snap at her and tell her that he was the older one, but he knew she was just worried, as obnoxious as she might come off as. They were the only two left of their family and the last thing the other needed was for their sibling to get themselves killed.

"What's going on so far?" He asked, changing the subject as he nodded at the door. Cary shrugged.

"They've been in there talking for an hour. We heard some yelling earlier, but it's quiet now. I think Uncle Leo's just laying low in there. Either that, or one of them killed the other."

"Funny." Parker responded dryly.

"She went with you when you were gone. What'd you talk about?" Prue began again, eyeing their mother out of the corner of her eye. Phoebe had just made her way over to the couch with her sisters and they began talking; Prue wondered what they could be talking about.

"She asked a lot of questions. I didn't even realize she had followed me until I was halfway there."

"And?"

Parker sighed. "We both know her, Prue. She's the same person she'll be when we come around. You know how intuitive she is. I wouldn't be surprised if she figured us all out, despite our best efforts."

"What do we do if they find out? It may complicate things more." Callie interjected, shifting on her feet to face the younger man. He sighed.

"You know, true as that may be, I think it may help us all the more as well."

They talked amongst themselves a little more, each debating about what could possibly happen if all was revealed. Phoebe, on the other hand, watched the small group of teens chat amongst themselves mutedly. She sat next to her sisters, each of which had been asking questions pertaining to where she had been and what they had done. She half-answered them through mutterings and sighs until she felt Piper's hand on her shoulder, lightly sitting there.

"Phoebe, are you okay? What did you all talk about?"

"Nothing, really." She replied truthfully. "I just…I have a really strong feeling that these kids are more than just helpers in all of this."

Both her sisters followed her gaze to the group of the teens chattering to each other. Parker looked up and met her eyes, immediately nudging his sister and muttering something before the group seemed to head to his room and close the door.

"You think they might be our kids." Paige said in a hushed tone. Phoebe looked at her.

"I do. Just after being around him for that little bit of time…I really think he's my son."

"Well." Piper began, staring between the door that they had gone through and the one leading to Chris' room where her husband now sat. This was spiraling into something so much more intense than they had every bargained for. "This certainly makes things much more interesting, don't you think?"


	7. Chapter 7

Wow. It's been like, forever, since this has been updated. Time moves way too fast when you get older, doesn't it? It seems like it was just yesterday that I started this...it doesn't help that my computer died a few months ago and the few chapters I had been working on for this story went with it :( Mal-ware is EVIL.

Anyway, sorry for the delay guys. Work's been kinda crazy, and my creative drive for this story went away for awhile, but I think it's back now :) I wasn't completely satisfied with the rushed feeling of the last chapter, so I really wanted to do well with this one. Hopefully you guys kinda enjoy it! :)

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Leo watched Chris pace a little more as he stayed silent, then ended up on the couch, his hands on his head. He sighed and spoke first. "So what do you want now?"

Leo stood still. He saw his son as a skittish animal; that if he made any sudden movement, any inclination to get close to him, he would either lash out or flee. He didn't want that to happen. "I want to talk to you."

"So? Talk."

Leo looked at the ground, wondering where to start. Since Chris was generally all business, he figured he'd lead with that. "I think I may have an idea about why Wyatt is the way he is."

Chris finally looked up at him, a serious look replacing the petulant one on his face. "Go on."

"It was around the time you were born; something happened to him involving an elder named Gideon..."

"I've never heard of Gideon...and I've met all the elders." Chris interrupted.

"Right. I don't want to go into details, because you don't need to know the details, but if we can stop Gideon from getting to him in the past, then we may be able to prevent all of this."

"Which is why you have all of a sudden shown up when Piper shows up?" The childish tone was back, pushing and instigating something.

"Not the only reason." He replied evenly. "But if we can inform them so they can prevent it, it's the best way to solve this problem. Think of it Chris! No more fighting, no more death. Hell, think of everyone who we may have back."

The thought of Piper hung in the air. "Why can't I know? Why don't I need to know? You're going to have to tell them, right? I'm in charge here. I need to know what's going on."

His urgent tone saddened Leo. Chris wasn't even 21 yet; he wouldn't even be able to legally drink if it were normal times. He shouldn't have to fix this, shouldn't have to feel like he needed to fix it. "You don't have to be the one in control all the time, Chris. You should trust us to help you."

"I should trust you? I, should trust, you?! I haven't seen or spoken to you in 5 years and you have the nerve to tell me I should trust you? That's rich, Leo."

"I was just doing what you wanted me to do." Leo replied calmly. Chris was starting to get worked up, and if Leo fought back, Chris might shut down and stop. He needed Chris to yell at him, to be mad; he needed his son back, and he knew as messy as this would escalate, he wanted it to happen.

"Well you picked a damn fine time to start listening to me." He replied bitterly.

"I knew I had never been the kind of father you needed, so if being rid of me was what you needed, I figured I could at least do that for you."

"Oh please, don't lie to me. I gave you an out, a way to finally get rid of your big mistake, and you took it gladly." He spat, eyes blazing in anger. Leo knew he was getting to him, but he was suddenly confused.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play dumb, Leo. I heard you. I heard you talking to Victoria a little while after Wyatt disappeared, after Mom died. I was waiting outside your office with Parker, but you didn't know I was there. And you said it-you said I was the biggest mistake of your life. Verbatim."

"I would never say that." Leo denied vehemently. "I would never---"

"You DID! I heard you!" He exclaimed. "I was picking up bits and pieces, but I heard you clearly..."

"I remember that conversation, Christopher Perry, and I did not say that. I said that not listening for you, not hearing you, was the worst mistake of my life, and I stand by that." Leo looked around wide eyed, shocked. "You really think that little of me? That I would say that about my own son, who I love very much? You do know that, right? I love you very much, Chris."

Chris wasn't able to respond; a very key part of what fueled his anger and resentment toward Leo was being debunked in the moment. It could be true-he and Parker were only able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation, and both had heard that part clearly, but even Parker was vehement about Leo not meaning it.

_"It couldn't have been what you think, Chris. We didn't hear everything..."_

But something like that, to hear when you have no one else and after everything that had happened, was too much for Chris to find an excuse for. So later, when he was talking to his father, he just screamed at him. Told him he hated him and never wanted to see him again.

"If it wasn't true, then why did you stay away?" He asked weakly, his logic crumbling.

"I thought it was truly what you wanted, and I felt I needed to give you that. You had Victor, you didn't need me." He was making his way closer to Chris now, slowly, with his gaze meeting Chris'.

"What I wanted was for you to be a parent for once, and tell me no! I wanted to see if you cared!" He exclaimed, his eyes shining now. "I was 15 years old Leo! Of course I needed you. Mom had just died, and Grandpa was sick with the cancer, Wyatt was gone..."

"And you thought I didn't want you." Leo finished, stunned. "I...I didn't know. I'm...I'm sorry, Chris."

"It doesn't matter." Chris said, shrugging it off, and there it was, the tough exterior. The wall was up, but Leo wasn't going to leave it alone.

"It does to me, Chris." He closed the gap between them, but Chris peeled away and fell onto the couch, avoiding his father's eyes.

"We don't have time for this right now, Leo..."

"All we have is time for this. And if you want to know everything, I'm going to need you to trust me. For that to happen, I need you to understand something." He sat next to him, and Chris continued to turn away from him. Leo grabbed his chin and turned his head toward him. "Look at me."

"Don't! Touch me." Chris said jerking back. "I'm not some child you can make do what you want. I'm all grown up, and you missed it Leo. You missed it, so don't think you can come here and act like you care, like you want to make things better, like you actually love me. If that were the case, you wouldn't have stayed away."

"You're so sure I did, aren't you? How did I know about the other night then? Or a few years ago, after the Fight, you came in here to be alone and you just cried Chris, how would I know that? Or that sometimes, just to get away, you just come in here, lock the door and read something not related to magic? I mean, really. How many times can you read To Kill A Mockingbird without getting bored of it?" His tone was light at the last sentence, but his eyes were serious and caring. Chris just stared at him.

"Have you been spying on me?" He whispered.

"You have no idea how hard it is to watch from the shadows and not say anything." Leo stood now so he was looking down at Chris, and then pulled the chair from the desk so he was sitting directly in front of his son. "Once or twice a week, I come down and I check to see how you're doing. But I never say anything, because you made it abundantly clear you didn't want me in your life. But I can't cut you out, Chris. You're all I have left in this. And I know, I should've been this attentive when you were younger, and I made mistakes, and yeah, I was a shitty dad for awhile, but we had some good times didn't we?" He was searching his son's face, which was down turned as Chris studied the ever so interesting holes in his knees. "I couldn't stay away because I can't let you go, because you're all I have left. And I love you, very, very much. The fact that I made you think I didn't...well, that might just replace the biggest mistake of my life."

Chris looked up, startled. "But mom..."

"I loved your mother...I still love your mother, but she's gone. We can dwell on our mistakes and let them erode us, or we can focus on what we have left. If anything, death should remind us we have to show those we care most about that we do." He cuffed his hand on the back of his sons head and was relieved when Chris didn't jerk away. "And I should've told you to deal with it, that I was sticking around, but I couldn't cause I was ashamed of the father I had been, and I thought you deserved better. I'm a coward for that. But it doesn't change the fact that you're my son, it doesn't mean I love you any less than I ever could, and I've learned from my mistakes. You're gonna have to kill me yourself to get me to leave you alone after what happened the other night. There's no way I should've let it get this bad."

Chris was picking at his jeans, biting his lip, and Leo had nothing left so he leaned back, waiting. Chris would probably side step it, probably turn it right back to business, but it didn't change the fact that Leo had at least put it out there.

"I never thought you were a coward." Chris whispered after a few minutes of silence. "I don't think I ever could, especially after the other night. You outright disobeyed him. You knew he wanted me left alone." He was still staring at his lap, swallowing hard. Chris was so hard to read sometimes, but Leo hadn't really started being an absentee father until Chris was around 11 so he still knew his mannerisms well. Wyatt was the kid who was always open with his feelings, because they weren't extreme. He was happy go lucky, or mad, and you knew about. Chris, on the other hand...he was always ashamed of his feelings, hated to show emotion because it meant so much to him; people meant so much, and he knew he was emotional and tried to stifle it. Leo just waited.

When his father didn't speak, Chris continued. "And for as angry as I am at you, I could never hate you...and I would never be able to hurt you, let alone kill you, because you're really all I have left too." His voice was breaking and he finally looked up at Leo, who was shocked to see that a few small tears had escaped from the corners of his eyes.

"Oh, Chris..." He sunk in next to his son and hugged him close as Chris began to cry softly, letting Leo rub his back and his head and tell him he was sorry, that it would be okay, that they would work it out, that he was _so fucking_ sorry.

"Dad." Leo tightened his hold at the name, for Chris hadn't addressed him like that since Piper had died. "I've really missed you." He admitted reluctantly, afraid to be any more vulnerable than he already was though his tears.

"Oh Chris, you have no idea..." His own voice was on edge, and tears burned in his eyes but he wouldn't cry. He would be strong for Chris, because he was the father in this situation, and Chris had been the strong one for far too long.

"I'm sorry...." He sobbed quietly. "I didn't mean to yell; I wanted to thank you for helping me the other night, but it's been so hard with them here, having to see her everyday...."

"I know son...I know. You're handling it so amazingly though...I'm so, so proud."

He just kept muttering to him reassuringly, rubbing his back and head as Chris dug his face into his neck like he had done when he was little. Leo could feel the warm moisture rubbing off, and when Chris calmed down and pulled away, his face a watery red mess, he saw the wet marks on his fathers shirt and flushed a darker red.

"Sorry...I...didn't mean to get all out of control."

"You're fine Chris. I'm sure it's been pent up for awhile." He got up and moved to the desk, which housed a small fridge beneath it and a box of napkins that would have to do. He retrieved a bottle of water and the tissues and handed them to his son.

"Thanks." Chris replied. He paused for a moment, sipping his water, evening out his breath. "This doesn't make everything peachy between us."

"I know." Leo replied smoothly. He stood in front of his son who leaned back on the couch, looking up at his father seriously.

"I'm still really mad at you."

"I know."

"You're okay with it?" He asked warily.

"Whatever it takes; i'll bug you until I die if that's what it takes to make up for the last 10 years. Deal with it, kid."

Chris hid a smile. "Thanks, Leo."

"When you're ready, we can head out. We need to get this taken care of, but I wanted to talk to you first." Leo explained. "And, if you really feel like you need to know, i'll tell you everything. You won't like it though."

"I need to know. As the head of this Resistance, it's my responsibility." He said smoothly, evenly, and then offered a small smile as Leo opened his mouth to comment. "This time, though, I know it's not on my own."

"Such a smart kid. Wonder where you got that from." He replied with a smirk.

There was a pause, and the small smile turned into a grin, as they both stated the same thing in unison. "Mom."

------

Wyatt Matthew Halliwell was angry.

Not just a little angry, like he felt like hitting something. He was a lot angry; he had already vanquished two of his top guardsmen because their time was dwindling and no leads seemed to be available. They weren't even able to bring in his pacifist father, for Christ's sake!

"Sir!"

"What?!" He snapped as one of his lower level guardsman entered his office. The man had a smug grin on his face at first, which fell at Wyatt's sharp tone. He stood at attention.

"Sir, I tracked down an old friend of your cousin's, Parker Cooper. He claims to know the location of the headquarters of the Resistance."

Wyatt smiled. "Really? Good work...what is your name again?"

"Samuel, sir. Samuel Curry."

"Well Samuel Curry. If this pays off, you may be getting a promotion." The man beamed, causing Wyatt to smirk. "Bring him forward." He barked.

"Yessir!" He said, exiting the office and ushering in a nervous looking man. He didn't look much older than 25, and no younger than 20, but he was trembling. A mortal, from the looks of his marker. Wyatt scoffed.

"Your name?"

"Sir, my...my name is...it's Andrew Miller." The man fumbled with his hands, forcing himself to look at Wyatt, although the terror was written on his face. Wyatt ignored it, and stared boredly back at the man in front of him.

"How do you know Parker Cooper? He must be at least 6 or 7 years younger than you."

"About 5, sir. Not to correct you, or anything, but...i'm 22. Sir. I tutored him for a few years in school when we were younger."

"Wonderful. Where is the headquarter's?"

"It's...at P3, sir. Or what is left of P3."

"Impossible. I sold that dump years ago, and it's been abandoned ever since. It's forbidden." Wyatt snapped.

"With all due respect sir, I've been there. It's been glamoured to look like a boarded up building, but it's not. Inside, they've made it much like magic school; a small space but infinite rooms for those who need to stay."

Wyatt eyed the stranger now, his interest surely piqued. "You speak as if you know a lot of magical things, but you're mortal."

"Sir, yes, sir." The man was still nervous. "I only lost contact with them a year or so ago; I was friends with his other cousins as well."

"My brother, I suppose? You both are around the same age."

"Yessir."

"So what makes you come forward now? Why, if you were such good friends, makes you turn them in? Did Chris piss you off? A falling out? He's quite good at that."

"No sir. I...I have a daughter. And...my wife is pregnant. And I heard you were looking."

"Ah, there it is." Wyatt stated silkily. "You want immunity."

The man just shuffled nervously, not daring to look at Wyatt. "Well?!" Wyatt growled.

"Sir, yes...sir." He said quietly. "I understand, if you don't give it to my family, that I am doing this, for the good of this city, but I was hoping..."

"Done." Wyatt said with a wave of his hand; mortals were of no consequence to him. The man looked positively radiant until Wyatt spoke again. "Samuel, show Mr. Miller here to his room here in the building. Make sure his wife and daughter stay on the other side, away from him."

Andrew paled. "Sir?"

"Well, I can't very well let you go to your home, pack up your belongings and flee in case what you've just handed me is complete bull. Which I'm sure you wouldn't have done anyway, because you seem like a...decently average, intelligent man. Not too loyal to your friends, though."

"My family ranks higher sir."

Wyatt sharpened, and Andrew cowered, but he didn't yell or send the man flying; he did supply useful information. "Get out. Your wife and daughter will be kept as collateral. Once we investigate your story and find it to be credible, you will be allowed on your way. If you can live with yourself."

The man paled more, but nodded. "Thank you, my liege. I will be eternally grateful."

Samuel wasted no time. He grabbed the man's upper arm and gruffly led him away, as two of Wyatt's top guards innately knew to approach their leader.

"Assemble everyone." He snapped, turning to stare out the glass window at the city. "We attack tomorrow at dusk; that gives us 24 hours. Go!"

------

Chris and Leo had finally emerged from the office, no worse for the wear. No one could tell he had had an emotional breakdown, which he was thankful for, but those closest to him-Bianca, his cousins-could see the hostility had disappeared from his stance. Whatever had gone on inside the office probably had helped.

Many of the people who had waited to hear something about the meeting had dispersed to their own quarters as it was drawing to night time and they had grown bored waiting. All that remained were his cousins, Bianca and the sisters.

He had wondered how Leo would take this; it was hard to guess. After all, he could wear his emotions on his sleeve with them; they had history already. He watched his father as Leo's eyes traveled around the club and found his mother, bent over a book reading. Paige and Pheobe were at the bar, chatting about something inconsequential and hadn't even noticed their emergence.

As if she felt his eyes, Piper looked up. And just stared.

"Oh boy..." Callie whispered.

Leo's eyes filled with tears that he fought to hold in. Piper stood slowly, and the sudden silence drew her sisters attention.

"Leo!" Phoebe exclaimed. He didn't even look at her.

"Piper." He whispered her name like it was water in the desert. "_Piper_."

"Hello Leo." She said, stepping closer. She knew this would be weird for him; he was still in her life daily. She had seen him only days before! But it had been 6 or 7 years since the her of this time had died, and she knew if she was in his shoes, she'd be a wreck!

He reached out cautiously, wanting to touch her face, but not wanting to intrude. Slowly, she took his hand and brought it to her cheek. He closed his eyes. Chris' sharp words from a few days earlier rang through he mind unbidden.

_**"He didn't seem to care so much about you when he let you die."**_

She wondered what the story behind that was, but for now, she'd ignore it. She stepped close to him, embracing him tightly. He smelled her hair, and took a shuttering breath.

"Oh, there is a God." He whispered. She smiled.

_How are you doing with this?_ Parker's voice pervaded Chris' mind. He had stepped back against the wall to watch his father and mother interact for the first time in 7 years. He smiled.

_I'm good with it. It's weird, but they look happy._

_So you and your dad worked things out?_

Chris chuckled inwardly at the hope Parker evoked. _Well, it's not like we're in Full House or anything, but we made some progress._

Parker smiled and nodded across the room. Piper had pulled away and the sisters had come over to greet Leo, both surprised by how excited he was to see them. They were close to Leo, sure, but this was different. They supposed, though, that the 15 years had made them closer, not to mention the devastation of the loss of the Charmed Ones. It was understandable that his grief had reached a level of such intensity.

"So you know what changed Wyatt?" Prue spoke first, her voice strong. Leo turned to her, a small smile on his face.

"Hello to you too Prue." He looked at the other cousin. "Cary, Callie...it's good to see you guys too. It's been awhile."

"Hi Leo." Callie rushed to him, hugging him. Cary followed, but Prue hung back, offering only an impatient smile.

"You know all of them?" Phoebe interrupted. She was watching the interaction closely. They were obviously comfortable around him, happy to see him, although Prue looked off put and Parker looked like it was nothing new to be around Leo. Her curiosity was getting the best of her and she didn't notice, but everyone else could. They had known her in the future, all their lives, and could see her tell when she presented it.

"Yeah, well, they all were at magic school with Chris and Wyatt, practically grew up with them...I take it they told you about magic school?"

"Mentioned it. You can fill me in more later." Piper chimed in.

"Oh, sooner rather than later." Leo led, his attitude changing from excitement to a more somber tone. "It has to do with what turned Wyatt. Or who, rather."

"So you know?" Prue pressed. Leo turned to her.

"I think I know; we can't know for sure." He reminded her. "It's what I'd hedge my bets on though. Years of careful research-and first hand knowledge-have given me an almost sure understanding of it."

"What if you're wrong?" She demanded. "What if this is our chance to stop this and it doesn't change anything?" She was beginning to get worked up, unable to control her rising emotions. Leo strode to her.

"Prue, I know you've lost a lot. We all have. I think I would be the first person you could trust with this."

"I know but..." She looked at Parker. She loved him, she did; but in the big picture, he was always closer to Wyatt and Chris and she and her sister, only a year apart, were much closer than she was to him. Not to mention being a huge daddy's girl. When they, after her mom, had died...she felt more alone than she ever thought she could. "You know what, I'll be right back."

She turned rushing to the bathroom. Callie made a motion to follow, as did Phoebe, but Parker stopped them both. "No, I'll go. You guys need to be filled in on this. I can find out later." And he left quickly, moving to a trot to catch his sister.

"We do need to. There's not much time to waste." Chris began. "Leo?"

"Yeah, we do." He sighed. "Hey, I'm a little thirsty. How about we meet back at the bar in a few minutes? I needed to actually talk to Bianca about something real quick."

"Me? Really?" She looked sideways at Chris, who shrugged, although his expression was wary. Chris watched her as he walked away, but she followed Leo as he led her to a corner of the club without any objection.

"Bianca. I don't think we've really met." He smiled, offering his hand. She shook it awkwardly.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Wyatt."

"Leo, please."

"Leo, then." She paused. "What can I do for you, I guess?"

He looked back at the waiting group; Chris was watching closely, but Leo knew he couldn't hear anything. "We both know how Chris is about things sometimes; he blames himself for things that aren't his fault. And I'm afraid that might happen when I explain the situation I'm about to."

Her brow furrowed. "He's not always like that." She defended. She was righteously angry for him. Leo was blatantly an absentee father and to insinuate that his very grown up son wasn't going to be able to handle something because he thought he knew how he was was irritating; even if he _was_ right.

Leo raised an eyebrow, and Bianca sighed. "Okay, nevermind. He can be like that. But what do you want me to do about it?"

"He's going to feel bad, and I've been the cause of that too much. He doesn't listen to me. I need you to make him realize it's not him. It's never been his fault. None of this is."

She sighed, staring at him. "You really are worried about him."

"I love him, Bianca, despite what he and apparently everyone else believes. Crappy dad as I may be..." His voice got husky and he looked away. "This is really all my fault. I need everyone to understand that it can be undone, but I need him to be okay too. I've done enough damage."

"I'll take care of him. I always do."

Leo smiled, like he knew something she did not, but she ignored it. "I know you do. And I appreciate it, even though that probably wouldn't matter." He sighed and clapped his hands together. "Okay, let's get going though. I think the natives will be getting restless."

They joined the group, Bianca walking next to Chris and grasping his hand. Chris looked at her questioningly, and she shook her head, indicating she'd tell him later.

Leo stood next to Cary, close to the sisters, directly across from Chris. He sighed. "I guess I need to get to it then."

"So. What causes this? What turns my baby into this...monster?" Piper asked.

------

Prue was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, hands on the porcelain sink. She splashed the water on her face, took deep breaths. She could hear them moving out in the front room near the bar, making small talk, happy that no one had followed her. She just needed some time...

And then she looked up to see her brother leaning against the doorway, watching her with concern. She sighed. "I didn't mean to get upset."

"Well no one ever _means_ to get upset." He teased, walking in, letting the door close behind him. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"You should be out there. We both should be, but this...it's so hard, Park." She shook her head. "I don't know how you do it."

"How I do what?"

"Talk to her. So easily. You give nothing away. No wonder you were so good at poker when we'd play with Grandpa."

He chuckled, moving to sit in front of her. "It's not so easy. And I think she's onto us, by the way. Hopefully we can get her home before she has the courage to say something."

Prue rolled her eyes. "If there was anything Mom had enough of, courage and curiosity is it. If she does know who we are, then she's gonna say something."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He replied with a small laugh. He looked up at her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, not looking at him, tears finally filling her eyes.

"Aw, Prue." He leaned forward, grabbing her hands.

"No, I am because, that...rant out there, I know what you're all thinking. About Daddy, and Patty, and how upset I am, I seem ungrateful..."

"No one thinks that." He filled in.

She scoffed. "Don't know if I believe that. I see the way some people look at me." She licked her lips, tapped her toes on the floor. "I _am_ grateful I still have you. I'm sorry I'm such a bitch sometimes. I just...I'm scared I'm gonna lose you too. Or that we'll waste this chance. Sometimes I miss them all so much, it feels like i'll just die. And I will, if something happens to you too. I hate it, Parker, I hate that our lives are like this..." She began to weep quite suddenly, which surprised Parker because she was just not that kind of girl. He rose and wrapped his arms around her, trying to calm her down.

"You're not a bitch. And I'm afraid of losing you too. But Uncle Leo knows what he's doing-he's trying to save his family too, you know." He squeezed tighter.

"I know." She sniffed.

"We can trust him." Parker reassured. "He really has been helping. He really wants this to work too. And it's really our only option."

"I know." She pulled back, sheepish now. "Thanks. For that."

"No problem kid." He handed her some tissue. ""And I'm not going anywhere. You can count on it."

She wiped her nose with a sniff. "I hope you're right. Maybe...when this works, we won't have to worry about it. How long do you think it'll take?"

"Instantaneous, I would think. But who knows how time travel works." He chuckled. "Can you believe it was mom who caused this?"

"Yes." She answered bluntly, right away, and then laughed. "I remember her telling me about Jason as one of her many loves in her life. I don't think this was part of it though."

"She probably just didn't botch the spell. Or who knows. They've done other stuff in their past. One wrong word..." He shrugged. "Boom."

"Whatever. What do you say we..." She stopped. "Wait. One wrong word." She stared at him, a very expectant look on her face. He stared back curiously.

"I think I know how to get them home without needing the book. But we'll need to know the spell they used. I'm surprised Chris hasn't thought of it." She mused. Lost, Parker just sighed.

"Well, he has had a little bit on his plate these last few days, wouldn't you say?"

"Hilarious. So happy you got the sense of humor in the family." She snapped. "Let's just get out there, hm? Try and pick up what's going on? Do I look like..." She motioned to her face, wondering if there was any trace of her recent display of emotion. He shook his head.

"Not enough for them to pry. Your eyes are bright though."

She waved it away. "It's fine. Let's go." She began to lead the way, and Parker followed, a small smile on his face. She could switch so quickly, snap to attention so easily, work so well even though her heart was falling. She was definitely the daughter of a Charmed One.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Hey guys :) Sorry it's been forever guys...you know how it is. Life gets in the way, as well does a lack of interest ;) I would like to say something about reviews. I really appreciate feedback in any form, constructive criticism or no. Up to this point, I have the reviews and have taken better care to address proofreading/grammar issues. I'm a college graduate, I have a full time (overtime lol) job, and I have a social life, so this? Is something I do for recreation. It's fun. I'm not a professional writer, I don't beta because frankly, I don't care enough and i'm lazy. More so lazy, as I care enough to publish the stories with hopes SOMEONE will enjoy them :) but really, I'm not going to go back and fix those chapters (altho I do read them from time to time and think of what I could've done better; but again, I'm really busy & really, really lazy) :) so if you have comments on THIS stuff? Bring it on. Other than that, it's cool, i'm down, i gots it. I appreciate all the readers though, and reviews I get. So I hope you guys enjoy this. On with the story ha ;)

Disclaimer: Not mine. 'Dur.

* * *

At the bar, Leo's lips pursed as he fumbled to begin. He didn't really know what to say, but he knew it had to be put delicately; the sisters still shouldn't know too much. His eyes darted around the group at all the expectant stares that had fallen on him. He sighed.

"I don't even know really where to begin..." He ran his hand over his head. "I guess...with Wyatt."

He turned his attention to the sisters, and when it became apparent no one else would be speaking, he started again. "I'm sure you've been dealing with attacks constantly. Started even before he was born, but you had the shield, I know." He leaned forward onto his forearms against the bar. "It's not going to get any easier. Not too much worse, but no easier, especially since he became quite a handful as he began to use his abilities."

"Understatement of the millenia." Chris muttered under his breath, drawing soft giggles from his cousins. Leo shot him a look only a father could give, one where a smile hid below the scolding. He continued.

"Well, when Wyatt came into the world, the entire magical community understood the significance of it. And when we were surprised with the news another Charmed one was on his way, well...there were many skeptics. Many that argued on how so much power should not be a concentrated into one being in the first place, and with a second child coming, many feared he would be just a powerful if not more. And that such a concentration would allow for a greater possibility of corruption."

"Don't have to worry about that from me." Chris again offered, low and self-deprecating with a grin. Unlike before, however, Leo shot him a more serious look.

"Says you." He corrected. "But we know what you did in the Manor the other night; did you know you could get to that level?"

Chris shrugged and said nothing, all the while averting his eyes to Parker in the corner of the bar, who looked about to burst. _Don't even think about it!_

The truth was, Chris had known his limits for awhile, as he had been constantly pushing them in the privacy of his own place. Parker helped him keep it quiet, and had kept watch in case anything went out of control and they needed help. So far, Chris had sweated and exerted himself to limits that had, frankly, made Parker nervous, yet hopeful. Chris was far more advanced than anyone had ever experienced, because he was pushing himself so he could face Wyatt with some hope of surviving.

"Another time, another place. Can you please continue?" Piper asked suddenly, waving her hands to get Leo's attention. Chris smirked a little, thankful for his mother's enthusiasm for her eldest son, but masking a tinge of hurt and jealousy that she wasn't at least a little interested in him. He swallowed though, and returned his attention to his father, who had begun speaking again.

"...well, what we didn't know was there wasn't only evil opposed to it. Of course, evil would be opposed; could you imagine two brothers of equal power fighting on the side of good? The underworld wouldn't stand a chance! But then, you had those on the side of good who saw the possibility of corruption and thought it their obligation to the greater good to eradicate it..."

"Eradicate it? Eradicate?!" Piper flamed now. "Eradicate my sons? You eradicate disease, a problem, but these are human beings, these are _my children_---!"

"Piper, can you let me finish so you can let all your indignation flow after the story's over?" He asked, his face a mix of sad amusement. Piper, for her part, huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay then. Anyway." His face screwed up in thought, knowing he was getting to aspects he would have to tiptoe around. Looking back on everything that had happened over those few months before Chris was born was tortuous-it was obvious in so many little aspects that Gideon was being very off about some of the things he was doing, but at the time, the family was too distracted enough by pregnancy, current attacks and other issues to notice. It was shameful, especially since Leo blamed himself solely for what happened.

"Are you going to continue?" Chris asked impatiently; his father's mournful expression made him jittery. He knew he needed to know, but unlike his cousins, this was going to hit really close to home and his nerves had begun to work on him.

"I was trying to think how to tell it, but I guess I'll just let it flow." He shrugged. "The pregnancy was...difficult, to say the least. You didn't have the shield, for one." Chris sighed, and rolled his eyes. Leo continued. "Plus, the attacks increased, since you were vulnerable and no one wanted to risk two Charmed children of equal power under one roof. Not to mention, it was just tough..." He voice faded off. "It was just tough for awhile there. Especially the labor."

Chris' interest piqued. He saw the Aunt's and his mother, focused and intent on Leo, who hadn't taken his gaze from Chris, and he suddenly realized he'd never really heard any stories from a time before he was around 8 months old. Which, come to think of it, was weird. He had plenty of friends-at least, before the war had started-whose mother's loved to torture them with tales in front of their friends of their marathon births, and embarrassing baby pictures. His mom never really did that, and grateful as he was at the time, he now began to wonder if this was all connected.

"The labor was...long. And bad. The baby was in distress, they didn't know..." He trailed off again, finding Chris's face with an expression that Chris couldn't even place.

"I've never heard this story." Chris stated quietly. Leo's eyes became tender and loving.

"Of course you didn't. Neither of us wanted to ever tell you. I think we were too afraid too." He turned his attention to Piper, trying to push the memories of those feelings from his mind. "It was just tough. I wanted...I wanted to be there, but Wyatt was still so young-not yet 2-and the NICU wasn't a place for him, so I decided to leave him with your Dad. The apartment was charmed, Wyatt had his shield, it should've been safe..." Leo swallowed, looking away, hiding his face.

"The NICU?" Piper asked softly, her gaze to Chris, who was pale with surprise. _How bad had it been?_ He wondered, _and what had it caused?_"And what do you mean, should've been safe?"

Leo looked up, swallowing again, his face somber. "We guarded it with evil in mind. Warned Victor for demons and warlocks, but he knew Gideon. He thought Gideon could be trusted..."

"Who is Gideon, Leo?" Chris asked now, pressing since it was the second time the name had come up within their short time together. Leo seemed to deflate.

"Gideon was an elder...my mentor, actually." He replied before looking back at Piper, trying to explain why they so blindly trusted a man that would have such a devastating effect on their family. "He was in support of our wedding, one of the only ones who argued in our favor. But, in hindsight, terribly self righteous, and had secretly always thought that Wyatt, with all of his twice-blessed abilities, was too much of a threat to be allowed to exist."

"He's just a baby." Phoebe whispered.

"But baby's grow up." Prue interrupted coldly. Piper shot her a scathing look, but didn't speak a word. Leo chose to rush on, trying to avoid conflict within a group that had to stay united for this.

"I got back to the apartment after the baby arrived and was stabilized to find Victor on the floor, half dead, and Wyatt...gone." Leo swallowed hard, his throat rough, so he cleared it and continued. "From what I could tell, Gideon arrived at the apartment, attacked Victor and took Wyatt. Down to the underworld, but Wyatt was able to get away and stay away from him...until we found him."

He seemed finished. Rehashing the story had hurt worse than he had expected; he kept getting flashes of images from those weeks surrounding Chris' birthday, from Piper on bed rest, to the bleeding, the elevated heart rates, the doctors hurrying about, making him leave the room...walking into Victor's apartment to find his father in law on the floor, almost gone, and Wyatt _nowhere_ to be found. It was one of the worst, and one of the best days of his life at the same time.

He looked up to see Chris in shell shock, staring at the bar top, swallowing. Bianca grabbed his arm, her eyes sad as she saw Leo's concerned glance, and she pulled Chris closer as she began muttering to him softly.

Piper's eyes were full of tears. "How long?"

"What?"

"How. Long. You said until you found him. How long did that take?"

Leo averted his eyes. "I don't think..."

"Obviously, being down there has something to do with this! I mean, can you imagine being a toddler, having to dodge demons and god knows what else! And your family not being around to protect you..." Phoebe interjected. "I mean, it couldn't have been more than a few hours though, right?"

"You're right about something. Being alone down there is what we think affected his perspective on good, evil and absolute power. Wyatt's credo is that good and evil is irrelevant; power is all that matters. When you three died, the idea was reinforced, and that's when he began to really go down the wrong path. When you are all powerful, you can keep those kinds of bad things from happening."

"And in the process, kill the rest of your family." Parker remarked scathingly, drawing further sharp, confused looks from the sisters.

"You didn't answer our question." Piper spoke evenly, leveling Leo with her eyes. "So what? Was it...days, then?"

"Piper, I really don't think that matters."

"It matters to me! I want to know how long he was down there!"

"So do I." Chris spoke softly, drawing the stares. Leo looked at his son and saw the tortured look on his face; he sighed.

"This is not your fault, Chris."

"Just answer the question."

Leo paused, weighing the options, and when he realized he wasn't going to get away from this, he gave in. "6 weeks."

The sisters gasped. "Six weeks?!?" Piper exclaimed. "How...how is that even possible? How did he...how did we...."

Chris peeled away without a word, heading toward his room with Bianca tailing close behind. Leo sighed. Exactly what he didn't want to happen...

He turned to face the sisters, Phoebe and Paige who were around their sister, trying to comfort her. He looked at the others, each looking guiltily at each other; they all could easily say they hated Wyatt, or at least what he had become, but with this piece of information, it seemed almost as if they had to cut him some slack, even if it was just a little. At least they seemed to have a reason.

"So...so if we stop this...Gideon," Piper spat the word acidly, a scowl of a magnitude Leo had never seen making it's way onto her face. "We stop him, we stop this?"

"It's what we think. That and keep him safe from other kidnappings and the like at such a young age. The only reason Gideon was able to get to him because we didn't suspect him at all."

"So we trust no one with him? Wonderful."

"Trust no one, with either of them. With any of your children." He directed the warning at Phoebe and Paige as well. He then turned back to Piper, who stood with her hands on her hips, glaring. "They come after Chris too. But after Wyatt...you were a bit overprotective of Chris..."

"As if you could blame me!" Piper snapped. She looked around suddenly. "Speaking of..."

Chris had left the bar immediately, Bianca close on his heels as he tried slamming the door. She caught it and let herself in, closing the door behind her before sitting on the bed as Chris began to pace in front of her, agitated and tempered. He shook his head, not looking at her.

"This is what that little pow wow was about, wasn't it?" He hissed.

"Chris, your dad was just worried about how you'd react. I thought he was overreacting but apparently, no, you both share that trait..."

He stopped in his tracks and glared at her suggestion that he and his father were anything alike-mostly because it was true. "You can't tell me that it doesn't make sense. I mean, come on-if i'm not born, if I don't cause those problems with the family, a little accidental _inconvenience_ from the get go---"

"Don't even finish that sentence, Christopher." His father's voice was icy and stern, and for the first time in a long time, was in a tone that brooked no argument. Chris looked up, surprised to find Piper standing next to Leo, hurt shining in her eyes that her future son would even consider suggesting the elimination of his existence for something she believed could so easily be fixed. Leo's gaze was similar, but filled with pain at the very idea.

"If I'm not born...if I don't cause this...mess, none of this happens." He supplied, although his voice was smaller now. He looked at Piper, his face serious. "It would save you a lot of trouble."

"I_ like_ trouble." She replied, and he rolled his eyes. "Hey. Seriously, look at me. There's no way this," -She motioned between the three of them, mother, father and son- "is not happening. No. Way."

"You wouldn't even really be sacrificing anything if I didn't exist in the first place..."

"Chris!" Bianca interrupted now, rising with tears in her eyes. "Don't even talk like that."

"Even if they change this, who's to say we meet in a different future?"

"I'll make sure you meet." Piper interrupted sternly.

"Was it really so bad that you wouldn't want to exist?" Leo asked quietly, his own grief on his face at the realization that his son was truly insisting that his mother erase his own existence.

Chris looked at him, swallowing hard. "She _died_ in my arms. And that's just the tip of the iceberg."

"I know, but we can stop it all with Gideon."

"Or you can just prevent it. Sometimes, the sacrifice of one must be made for the good of hundreds-and in this case, it could be millions." He looked at her, his eyes decided, and emotionless. "Just slip on a rubber and you're good."

He spoke so crudely, so harshly and simply of his own nonexistence that Piper gaped. "That is ENOUGH. It's not an option Chris, so you can forget it!" She snapped. "And I don't want to hear another word, do you understand?"

It was quiet then, the family at a standstill as Bianca stood on the sidelines. Chris, Piper in the middle and Leo near the ajar door; Chris just gaped at her.

"You yelled at me." He spoke finally, the silence ending.

"You needed to be yelled at. Someone had to do it. You were talking complete nonsense. There is no way I would have even considered that, Chris. We're going to keep Wyatt safe." Piper began. "And at no one else's expense."

"So...you don't blame me?" He asked, almost in surprise, his gaze shifting from Piper to Leo.

"Never." Piper answered quickly.

"In a million, billion, trillion years." Leo insisted. "If you're looking for blame, it falls on me. It's my fault."

"Our, fault. We both should've made sure he was safe." Piper corrected. "But this next time, it won't happen. This is why we're here, Chris. Let me fix this. That's what we do."

She stood close to him now; he hadn't even noticed her close the distance. She looked as if she wanted to grab his hands, to hold them firmly, to make him believe. "We?"

"Mom's, Chris. We fix this stuff. Parents. Family." She emphasized each word pointedly, feeling as if she finally could assert herself in this role for once. If he wanted to request that she, as his mother, take action to ensure he didn't come to be, she was damn well, as his mother, going to make him realize how hard she was going to work to make sure either of her kids had to ever suffer like this again.

He just stared at her, her warm eyes and concerned face turning him warm inside. But the fluffy, happy feeling kept escalating, until it was replaced with anger. Didn't she know how hard this was? How hard it was to have her look at him like that, and tell him she didn't_ blame_ him, it wasn't_ his fault_, that she was going to_ fix it and make it all better_? He scowled.

"This isn't a knee scrape, Piper." He started coldly, standing up. "You can't just put some band-aids on the situation. You can't even let it get on the damn bike."

"Taking the analogy a little far there Chris." Bianca began, trying to calm him down, but the look he gave her shut her up. Leo grabbed Piper's hand.

"We should go." He whispered. Confused, she rose, following Leo out as Chris turned his back to them. When they were outside the room, Piper spun on him.

"What the hell was that?"

"You got too close, Piper. You can't do that to him." Leo replied calmly. "You can't be his mom."

"What the hell does that mean? I am his mom!"

"No, you're not. You're Piper; you're his mother, but you're not necessarily his mom." Parker interrupted, stepping close to her and Leo. "Can't you understand how hard this is for him?"

"Of course I do! Phoebe, Prue and I ended up back in time with our mother..."

"Where you already existed, so that bond already existed." He insisted, then shrugged. "Well, except for Phoebe, but Patty was at least pregnant. He's not even a_ thought_ to you. In our time, you thought you were having a girl again. You have no connection with him, other than genetics. But to him? His mom was his world, Piper. You grow into one of your sons favorite people, and having you show up like this...it _hurts_, Piper." His voice was strained, the shadow of grief evident on his face. Prue watched her brother as he controlled the emotion then shot a look at Piper, and the sisters. Her stomach churned at the narrow look Phoebe had trained on her brother, and she looked away as the woman's gaze turned to her.

Piper had gone pale, her brown eyes wide. "I...I didn't think of it like that." She replied softly, looking from the ground, to Leo's grim face.

Parker sighed. "I'm his best friend Piper, and he won't tell you, so I will. He'll be pissed, but you need to understand this. You're only here for one more day, and while he'll want to be around you, you can't be too...mom-ish."

She nodded sharply. "I...I get it."

Parker pursed his lips. "Okay, well. In that case, Phoebe, Prue and I wanted to get together with you and Paige or Piper and try and figure out a spell to get you back to your time. We assume since you said something wrong there, there's something we can say right that will get you back. Is that okay?"

Phoebe nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Yeah, i'd love to help you guys out. Paige, you want to....?"

"Yeah. Let's head to the office and get this started before it gets too late. I'm already kinda tired."

"Cary, Callie, how about you guys head to the two other centers and brief everyone on what happened here so rumors don't run rampant?"

"Sounds good, Park. We'll probably stay wherever we end up, but we'll be here bright and early tomorrow to help plan out everything." Cary replied, grabbing his sister's hand. The twins smiled at everyone in the room, then dissipated into blue lights.

Parker, Prue and the two sisters headed off in the direction of Chris' office, where most of the magical information lay, leaving Piper and Leo alone. They stared at one another.

"This is a little weird." Piper offered.

Leo scoffed. "A little? Piper, your sister said a spell that sent you 20 some odd years into the future, in which your present son is pure evil, and your other son, who you didn't have a clue you'd have, is the head of the resistance against him. You're dead here, along with your sisters, and my relationship with our sons is less than perfect, among other things. I'd say a little weird is an understatement."

She smiled wryly at him. "How is it you can make me smile when I want to cry the most?"

"We're still the same people, Piper, even if we're in different times of our lives. We still fit, like we've always done."

He was looking at her intensely, his love for her unwavering and she looked into his eyes. In that moment, everything seemed to not matter, even time, and she stepped up to him, drawing his head down as she kissed him hard. He was stiff for but a moment, unsure, but as she relaxed, so did he and he grasped her firmly, letting his hands rake through her soft hair. They stood there, making out like two teenagers, so immersed they didn't hear a door open.

"Ah-EM!" Chris cleared his throat after a few moments, his eyes narrowed. Bianca stood a few feet behind him in the doorway, trying her best not to grin.

Piper and Leo jumped apart, suddenly like two teenagers being caught doing something they really shouldn't be, smoothing their hair and clothes as they awkwardly tried to recover. Chris just stared at Leo, with a strong look of disbelief on his face then shook his head.

"Yeah, I really didn't need to see that but whatever..." He sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. "Leo, I need to talk to you."

Piper and Leo exchanged looks, then looked at him in uncertainty. When it was apparent he was offering no more, Piper sighed.

"I was gonna go anyway...help with the spell with my sisters. I'll leave you guys alone." She smiled tightly between the two men, then slid away towards the room where they were figuring out the spells.

The father and son stood awkwardly with each other. Chris looked back to Bianca for an excuse, but she had mysteriously disappeared. He frowned.

"Was that really necessary?" Chris finally asked.

"Was what necessary?"

Chris flustered, rolling his eyes. "Was what..." He motioned furiously. "Was _that_ necessary!"

"Oh." Leo grinned sheepishly, flushing pink. "Yeah, we didn't realize that...I mean, she kissed me."

"Ugh. You sound like a teenager." Chris grumbled. "You could've been more discreet. The last thing I needed to see during this was you and her going at it like you were behind the school bleachers. Just don't, please."

"Don't worry, Chris. We won't." He sighed. "What about you, how are you holding up with all of this?"

Chris shrugged, shaking his head. "I mean...it's nice to know something. It just sucks to know that I had something to do with this."

"Chris, it was not..."

"I know, it wasn't my fault, Leo." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Look, the reason I came out was because I need to know more. I know you feel like you need to protect me," He rushed as Leo opened his mouth to deny the request, "but you don't. I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been running this for awhile. I have to know everything, details, or people die. Do you understand?"

Leo stared at him, blinking owlishly. He wanted to tell him that he was only in his early twenties, that he shouldn't be running this, or worrying about people dying, but Leo had known for awhile that his son had unfortunately been forced to grow up much sooner than he deserved, and that he himself was one of the people to blame for that. So instead of arguing, of forcing the issue or trying to be the dad, he sighed. "Okay. I'll tell you what I can."

"What you can?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, Chris, what I can. There are some things I'm not going to tell you because I don't want you to know. And on that front, i'm pulling the Dad card." His tone brooked no room for argument, so Chris just rolled his eyes and decided to cut his losses.

"Okay. Whatever happened to Gideon? I mean, I've never heard of the guy before today, but he was an Elder? And your mentor? But you know what he did?"

"Well, it took us awhile to figure out exactly what had happened. We thought it had been a demon, or someone else that had taken Wyatt, but there were little clues throughout the next few years that pieced things together. And eventually we had enough evidence to try him in a magical court."

"How long?"

Leo frowned. "Too long. Years. You were a teenager by the time it was wrapped up. But it doesn't matter; we know what happened, we know that this has to be what needs to be prevented. Years of deductive reasoning has brought us to this."

Chris bit the inside of his cheek in thought; he wanted to ask more about Gideon, but being as what had happened to the Elder wasn't as important as what was necessary to prevent him from taking baby Wyatt in the past, he didn't press the issue. "What about you and the other remaining Elders? How long have you guys been watching and working on stuff?"

"How long have you been in the Resistance?" Leo countered. Hurt flashed in Chris' eyes for a moment, but Leo caught the glimpse. _So you just couldn't be bothered to help **me**._ He could hear Chris' voice in his head, what he probably wanted to say or think but didn't. Instead he just turned away, his head hanging.

"How did you find things out?"

"Well, by not being directly connected to the Resistance, we were able to infiltrate Wyatt's defenses." He pointed out. "I still visited him, talked with him, although it rarely did any good. But through that, we were able to research and study things. Behaviors, words or things that would set him off in a particular way. And sometimes in his anger, he would say things, confusing things. And those things, those things that weren't connected to anything in particular, that's what helped piece the puzzle together. I can't think of anything off hand, but I mean, it's taken 5 years to figure it out."

"And what would've happened if the aunts and Mom hadn't shown up?"

Leo shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I was leaning on time travel, but it would've been an awfully big risk. One, however, I don't doubt we would've needed to take."

Chris nodded. "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Honestly, I don't think you really need to know this stuff. I mean, we'll brief the sisters before they go back and then it's all them." He stepped closer to Chris, resting his hands on his shoulders. "Hey, look. I know you feel like you need to be in control of everything, but you don't. This is one of those times you just have to have faith in your mother."

Chris just stared at him for a quiet moment, before dropping his head and nodding. "Yeah...I guess." He shrugged his father off softly, not wanting to offend him but not wanting him touching him any longer either. Leo stepped back obligingly. "Hey, I do have something else. Why didn't I ever hear about any of the other stuff? Like...all the dangerous stuff you were talking about earlier? About me?"

Leo shook his head. "I think your mom just didn't want to think about it. I think it scared her, the thought of you not surviving all of that. That, and she didn't want you to feel bad about it. She loved you Chris."

"I know she did." He shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to get so personal or emotional with his father. "Whatever, you know what, I'm going to bed. Um, you can...we have a spare room. I'll show you to it."

As they headed to one of the many charmed corridors, Leo began to speak. "You know, it may not be a bad thing to let her in Chris." He pointed out softly.

"She's here for one more day, Leo." He got to a door and opened it. "There's not much to let in. Plus..." He shook his head. "It's just better this way. Easier."

Leo stared at him for a moment, then swallowed, deciding not to push the issue. "Yeah. Well...thanks. For letting me stay here. I know the risk."

"It's a bigger risk to have you outside of here." Chris pointed out. "Can't have you getting yourself killed too." He smiled then softly, his own way of telling his father he was scared for him, of what Wyatt would do. Leo smiled back and touched his shoulder.

"Right. Well...goodnight, I guess." Chris nodded and turned to leave, but Leo spoke again quickly, wanting to say something to him. "Hey, um...I'm really happy we got to talk. I've really missed you."

Chris nodded, eyes flicking to the floor and back, a way to offset his discomfort of letting his emotions show. "I've missed you too. G'night."

Leo swallowed, his throat thickening with emotion he couldn't understand. He smiled at him. "I'll see you tomorrow kid."

Chris nodded and kept walking, throwing a hand up in a lazy goodbye gesture, and Leo just watched him until Chris' door closed behind him.

-----

The morning came too quickly for all involved. The sisters were able to figure out the wording of the spell, something that would hopefully send them home. Chris awoke, smells filling his nostrils of spices and home. His eyes flew open.

"What is that?" Bianca asked wondrously. "That smells amazing!"

"No way." He muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head. He looked at his clock and swore softly to himself. "Is it really noon?!"

"The alarms must've just not gone off...seriously, what is that smell?"

He sighed, throwing the covers back and getting out of bed. "That smell, is my mother."

When they made their way to the common area, it was obvious. The swinging kitchen doors were held open, and there was Piper, bustling back and forth between pots and pans, her hair held up as cooked. She looked up and saw them gawking. "Hey! Good morning...or good afternoon!" She joked.

"What are you doing?" He asked pointedly.

"And can I have a taste?" Bianca followed. Piper laughed.

"Uh, cooking. And sure Bianca, come on in."

"It's like, 12:30 Piper. Why are you cooking so early?"

"Well, we figured everything out, so we were going to leave later this afternoon, around 6, but I thought it would be nice to have a dinner with everyone before we went. Even if it means we have dinner at 3 pm."

He opened his mouth to argue, but stopped and shrugged. "Sounds good, I guess. Even if I said no, it wouldn't matter right?"

"Right." She nodded with a grin. "It's roast..."

"Chicken, with potatoes and a wine sauce. Coupled with all the fixins, I know. Classic, Piper." He smiled. "How did you get the food?"

"Oh I have my ways." She winked at him, smiling slyly and he chuckled. Paige and Phoebe appeared from their room, hair tousled and eyes tired.

"Ohhhhh I thought I smelled something goooooood....you haven't cooked like this in awhile Piper!" Phoebe exclaimed, hoping in to explore the surroundings.

"She hasn't?" Chris asked.

"No, busy you know. A newborn takes a lot of time. Lots of takeout and such." Phoebe dipped her finger in some of the sauce, licking with fervor, to which both Chris and Piper glared as if she had committed a far worse crime than she had. Phoebe smiled, finger still in her mouth as her eyes darted at Paige, then Bianca. Paige seemed to nod slightly.

"Hey, um...Bianca. We wanted to go over some stuff with you about today, could you come with us?"

Bianca met Phoebe's gaze questioningly, and Phoebe stared more intently, shifting her stare at Chris and Piper. Realization dawned. "Oh yeah, of course! Yeah, let me just...." She looked around a little, then started toward the room. "Let me get something and we'll head out to the uh...the Wharf center, to iron out some stuff. I think Callie went there last night, so yeah." She nodded and was off before Chris could say or do anything, and his aunts followed her quickly. Not long after, they heard the twinkling of orbs as Paige left with them in tow.

Chris shifted awkwardly, alone with Piper. He thought about turning and following the girls, but decided that would be rude and stayed in place. Piper, still stirring, looked up at him, eyebrows raising. "Well, _this_ isn't awkward." She sighed. "They're about as subtle as a bull in a china shop."

He smiled despite himself, and she smiled back. "Who are you cooking for?" He asked, although the answer was rather obvious. Realizing he was trying to make conversation, she set the spoon down and moved to something else.

"I figured it may be nice to eat a good meal-something I suspect you guys haven't had in awhile-before we go back to fix this. Is that alright?" She was serious now, and he nodded quickly.

"No, yeah, of course..." He shoved his hands in his pockets, hanging back, just watching. She finally stopped and looked at him, hands on hips.

"You may as well get used to it for the next few hours. I'll try not to be overbearing, but you know I love to cook for everyone."

That he did. She had gone to fetch some other spices and when she turned around, offered a raised eyebrow, her head bent as if to ask the obvious. "Well? Are you going to help me, or do you not know how to cook?"

He scoffed as if insulted. "Please. Do you think Wyatt was your right hand man? Give me the spices. Rosemary, if I'm correct?"

She handed it over, impressed, and hid a smile. He rolled up his sleeves and added the ingredient as needed, then stirred ever so much. He tasted the sauce, shrugging as if to approve, then laid the spoon down, moving to the unpeeled potatoes on the cabinet. Her face lit up.

"Well aren't we just a little Rocco Dispirito."

Chris smiled. "It helped that I had a good teacher."

It was a genuine, happy smile and it hit her suddenly how much he was enjoying this. She wondered if they cooked a lot when he was a child, if maybe this was reminding him of better times. She decided against asking though, and moved onto other vegetables that needed to be chopped.

However, curiosity was getting the better of her and she soon moved past the small talk they'd been sticking to for most of the process. As many of the side things were soon done, Chris just finishing up the potatoes as the chicken stayed in the oven, Piper sat with a cup of coffee and spoke. "So. Just curious...Wyatt's not really into this?"

Chris stiffened slightly, but then shrugged. His father's words from the night before echoed in his head. "It wasn't so much that. Wyatt was always more a doer, an action kind of kid; you know, use what you have." He picked up some chopped potatoes and dumped them in a boiling pot of water.

"And you weren't?"

A shrug again. "I mean, I exercised my powers and stuff, but I was always into school stuff like potions and spell writing, while Wyatt was more into extracurriculars at the school, outside of learning."

"None for you?" She asked, wanting to know more. He shook his head.

"A few. I was always more into mortal extracurriculars. You know, baseball, stuff like that. It gave me time to..." He faded off. "I just wasn't as demanding. I could do other stuff, you know?"

"Yeah." She replied, even if she really didn't, but sensed that she may have had something to do with it. "So that's how you became such a good cook."

He flushed, and it was confirmed. She couldn't help enjoy the pleasure it warmed within her. He was hers, that was for sure; it was all she could do to not walk right over and kiss him on the head.

When he raised his eyes to hers, he saw a maternal glint in her eye he hadn't seen in so long. His eyes filmed over and he quickly looked away toward the small oven they had managed to get working in the club. He cleared his throat. "Chickens almost ready."

Moment gone. She nodded, understanding the change in conversation signaled the end of his tolerance for sharing.

"Where are your plates and stuff?" She asked. He walked to a cabinet and pulled it open to reveal plates, glasses, all different colors and shapes, completely mismatched as it had been salvaged for the strictest of purposes. He pulled them out, balancing them on his hip.

"I'll set them out on some of the common tables. See if I can move them together." He offered, walking out of the kitchen area, letting the now free doors swing shut behind him.

Well that went well, she thought grumpily, realizing that maybe she had pushed too much, had asked too much of him and now he had closed off. She stirred the sauce, adding the finishing ingredients. They had been alone for awhile and the meal was almost done. She had to focus to finish.

He came back in to grab more, tossing a glance at her focused expression with the stray hairs hanging around her head as she measure the perfect amount. For a moment, he finally saw the mother he'd always loved in her natural state. A familiar ache sprang to life in his gut, but he realized he was grateful for this and that his father had been most definitely right.

"Piper," He spoke softly, balancing silverware in glasses and on plates as he leaned against the double doors. She looked up at him expectantly. "Those days...I never missed out on anything because of the time I spent with my mom. And I treasure every moment of it, to this day. She was the best I could've ever asked for."

He quickly pushed through, his throat quickly thickening, and he didn't want to see her expression. He just wanted her to know, in a roundabout way, that he loved her. And that was enough for the both of them.

-----

The meal was devoured quickly. The remnants left behind were evidence of how much they missed a good, home cooked meal by Piper Halliwell, and the dishes were removed from the table as the Charmed progeny prepared to clean the kitchen. Leo led the sisters to a spare room and closed the door, intent on briefing them on what should be done when they arrive home.

"You're going to have to fight yourself, Piper, because I know you. You can't attack him outright." He warned soon after he started with the run down.

She scowled at the future version of her husband. "I know that!"

He nodded. "I know you know that, but when you actually are introduced to him in a few months, I fear your reaction will be different."

Her eyes narrowed at him, but she shrugged, knowing he may be right. "So what do I do? Just wait to let him try and kill my son?"

"Of course not, Piper. You know that's not what I'm suggesting." He sighed. "You're going to have to convince me. Which is going to be near impossible," He rushed as she opened her mouth. "But I NEED you to do this. Here," He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, so small and wrinkled it was apparent it had been toyed with a million times. He handed it to her.

"It's a letter. To myself. You...you can read it, if you like, but it's necessary that your Leo see's it. He..._I_. I need to understand, and I know my handwriting. The way I speak. You telling him..._me_...it won't work. I need to read it from me."

"About Gideon?" Piper asked, looking at Leo oddly. Not that she didn't believe him; she knew how stubborn he could be. But there was a desperation in the way he spoke, a glint in his eye and she wanted to know. Phoebe and Paige stood back silently, watching. He sighed.

"I know I shouldn't...I know it's personal gain. But he deserves better than what I've given him." Leo spoke softly, his eyes glancing to the door for a moment. "Shitty father's don't usually get a second chance; emotionally neglected kids don't get a second chance. I'm taking advantage of the situation."

"You're not a shitty father." Piper replied softly.

"I'm not a good one." His head snapped back to her, his eyes hard and serious. "And that kid out there? He deserves the _very_ best." He replied. "Just...make sure I get that letter."

"I think I can handle that. Anything else?"

"Yeah." He looked around at the three of them, and smiled. "Good luck. I love you." He looked more sharply at Piper. "I_ love_ you." He spoke to her in such manner that the skin on the back of her neck prickled, and she swallowed. His words seemed a lifeline almost, to the woman that had come after the past self he was addressing, a last chance gasp to let her know what he could no longer tell her, words even for himself as a way to placate the guilt that would always plague him for playing such a part in her early demise.

His words made her heart flutter, and she knew he had spoken them partially for himself, so he could know that she knew, almost as if it were penance for what had happened to his Piper. She swallowed. "I know."

He stared at her fondly for a moment before clapping his hands together and addressing the sisters as a whole again. "Now. Lets get out there before the natives get restless."

It amazed the sisters that anyone would want to see them off, but as they exited the office, they were met with a small crowd abuzz among themselves. A hush fell over the small group as they became aware of their presence. The sisters smiled uncomfortably.

"Guys, these are some of our top officers in the Resistance. They wanted to meet you, chat with you for awhile, be able to take back word to the rest of our members and refugees. Kind of a morale booster in a way." Chris explained quickly, motioning to the 20 plus guests in the room.

"Hi everybody." Phoebe greeted, smiling brightly in an effort to hide the slight discomfort she felt at the attention. While they'd been witches for the past few years, all they'd done was everything in their power to go undiscovered and unknown for fear of the fall out; they weren't used to gratitude, and certainly not admiration. But it shone on each of the men and woman's faces that looked back at them; their hearts clenched. Some of them didn't even look old enough to be out of high school.

They began to mingle and simple greetings were exchanged-hello's, good luck's, and thank you's. Soon though, it was just the Charmed One's, Leo, Chris and his closest associates-Cary, Callie, Parker and Prue. The other Charmed children-unknown to the sisters for sure, but the suspicion was there-hugged the sisters, wishing them well and stepped back. Leo took his turn, hugging each of the sisters, pecking them on the cheek until he came to Piper. He stood in front of the past version of his beloved wife, hands taking a hold of hers.

"You can do this." He began, squeezing her hands, his eyes shining. "You are_ strong_. You and your sisters are capable of so much more than you know. Be patient. Take care of our boys." He took a deep, shaking breath. "I love you."

She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips, drawing slight gasps and titters from the crowd that was gathered. Leo smiled as he pulled back, squeezing her hands once more before stepping away.

Leaving only Chris. He stepped up to his aunts, exchanging soft words and hugs before he got to his mother. He breathed in deeply, tears pricking his eyes as well as he gazed as his mother's face, smooth and young, a sad smile on her face. She sighed as well.

"We're gonna fix this Chris. Everything will be okay." She assured quietly, her hand touching his face. He stiffened.

"Piper, my people..." He whispered back, a little more forceful than he intended. It wasn't that he didn't want her touching him, but he couldn't show some sort of weakness in front of so many people that depended on him. She smiled tightly, as if she understood and drew her hand back.

"Of course. Sorry." She seemed to curl into herself, stepping back, rebuffed, but understanding. His chest tightened, and he knew, people be damned, that he needed to let her know that this was not something that he would regret. He had to make sure letting her go without telling her something real, that _that_ wouldn't have to be something he'd someday regret.

"Piper, wait." He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Look, it's not that I'm not...happy to have seen you. It's just...it hurts." He admitted. "I told you...what my mother was to me. And you...you are her. Just...not the one I knew, totally." He sighed. "But while it may have hurt to see you, cooking today with you showed me how good it was as well. To get to talk to you, and hug you."

"We haven't hugged, I don't think."

Chris smiled and she put his arms around him, as he returned it heartily. "I love you." He whispered, so softly only she could hear.

She smiled at him as she pulled away, unexpected tears springing to her eyes. "And I am looking _so_ forward to loving you." She replied just as softly, her hand unwittingly brushing his hair back from his forehead. He smiled back.

"Aw, now isn't that sweet?"

Chris's face went stark white, and he swore his heart stopped. Stepping in front of his mother, in front of the whole group, he turned to find himself within twenty feet of Wyatt, and a mini army of his men. He felt his father appear at his side, just as staunchly, and glanced quickly to meet his eyes, a silent _thank you _on his face. His father smiled tightly, and when they looked back at Wyatt, he smirked.

"Well if it isn't a family reunion. It's actually good that everyone's here." He sneered, beginning to walk forward, causing the small crowd to slink back as he neared. "Mother, aunts; Come with me. Or they all die."

* * *

AN: Hope you guys enjoyed, it's pretty long since it was such a LONG time :) Thanks for all your support and reviews; I do really appreciate it, and hope I didn't come off too...meh, above. Thanks all :) Hopefully it won't take forever for a new chapter to get posted again, it should be a little bit of a doozy.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: So. Quickest update in awhile, I know right? :) I would like to thank everyone for the reviews (I'm trying this out for a change, bear with me :):

lizardmomma: I know you've followed for awhile, thank you ;)

leetvfan, tag.0, Saffygirl: Thanks :)

Star Mage 1: I have always found cooking scenes with them adorable, so I decided to try my hand. I'm happy you enjoyed it :)

Charmedfam: Aw thank you :) Happy you stumbled across it

Acarolin95:Thank you for reviewing...i know how it can be, reading awhile and finally being like, uhhh I need to review lol...so I appreciate it ;) I'm happy you like it...hopefully the update was soon enough :)

IloveIloveIlove:Thanks for the compliments on my writing style; I know if can be jumbled and sometimes splotchy, but i'm working on it :) Where is your SN from? Is it from Pride & Prejudice, the one with Keira Knightly? Cause that's what it makes me think of, I was just wondering...it's probably one of my top 5 movies :)

AshleyMarieHalliwell: I'm not sure what the context was in previous chapters, but I do know I mentioned it; I meant it as just being invisible/undetectable from the outside, but if he realized what it was, then he'd be able to get in. By their friend telling him that's what it was, he could then see it. I'm going to look back though, and if it seems confusing, probably do a rewrite. Thanks for bringing it to my attention :) Glad you enjoyed it :)

Mistress Arsonist:I hadn't noticed the awhile, but I'll watch how often I use a certain word in the future; sometimes, there's just that one word that seems to work with everything, you know :) lol...but i'm happy you enjoyed the rest of it.

Okay, so; tried to update ASAP; I had had a bit of this written awhile ago, but I revised it quite a bit and added to it. Hopefully it won't be too long until my next one, but you never know...you know how life it :/...i will try my best though. I know where I want to go with it, and how I want to wrap it up, so it'll probably be a few more chapters before it's over. I hope you guys like it :) ONWARD!

Disclaimer: Necessary? Really? Probably not, but anyway...not mine!

* * *

Chris stood in front of his family in friends, shoulders back and face set in a hard glare. "What are you doing here, Wyatt?" He snapped, fists clenched at his side. "How did you even find this place? It's hidden from the outside."

"I know. Nice trick, by the way." His brother quipped as he pulled his sword from it's sheath on his back. He set it to the ground as he paused, the tip hitting slowly, and he began to spin it mindlessly. "It seems an old friend of yours-although I don't know how _good_ of one, since he obviously sold you out-" He pointed out. ", felt it may benefit himself in the long run if he offered up some information. He was correct." Wyatt raised a hand and made a beckoning motion, bringing two guards to his side, a leaner, taller man standing between them. His eyes were blood shot and shined with tears, and he was looking down at the ground. He hadn't expected Wyatt to bring him along.

"Andrew?!" Parker exclaimed angrily, stepping forward, but not before Chris threw out his arm, pushing his cousin back. "You...you told him where we were? We helped you!"

"I'm sorry." The man croaked, his arms raised in a gesture of submission. "I...I didn't feel I had a choice. Kim's pregnant again, and Ella just turned two..."

"Well congratulations!" Parker snapped, leaning forward against Chris in agitation, which earned him a reproving glance from his older cousin. He backed up a few paces, but maintained his glare at his supposed old friend.

"I was protecting my family, Park!" He defended. "It's not optimal, but any of you would've done it. Hell, most of you have done something like it!" His eyes flashed with sadness, and he shook his head. "I'm _sorry_." He repeated, hanging his head as he spoke, his voice cracking.

"Enough!" Chris snapped, stepping forward a few paces. Leo's eyes widened in alarm, but Chris, as if sensing his father's distress, held up a hand to him. "Enough, Wyatt. What do you want?"

"What do I want?" He asked almost incredulously. "What do you think I want, I want them!" He gestured with his weapon now at the past version of his mother and aunts, anger in his eyes. "And I'm tired of this, Chris. You're becoming far too much of a nuisance."

"Then kill me." His brother replied simply, walking closer to him. "Right now. Do it."

"No!" Piper yelled, fighting to step forward, her sisters holding her back. Leo even started to move, but again, Chris held up his hand. Knowing he had to trust his son, no matter the plan, he stopped, his heart racing. Wyatt would never strike his brother down right out...would he?

Wyatt, for his part, studied his brother for a moment before the corners of his lips turned upward. He began to shake his head, laughing softly. "No...no, that won't do. Despite the pain in the ass you've been, I can't seem to bring myself to kill you."

The relief in the air was palpable, and for one brief moment, Chris hoped he might have been making headway with his stand.

"However," Wyatt noted, cocking his head. "They definitely could." He gestured behind him to his men, who now stood ready to attack. "You should've just handed them over Chris. Guards!"

An arrow seemed to fly from nowhere, heading directly for Chris' chest, but it was stopped in mid-air by Piper, giving Chris time to drop to the ground and edge back to his side of the bar. What had been the sight of a calm family dinner only an hour before, was on the brink of becoming a war zone.

Chris looked up in time to flick his wrist as a demon approached the group of resistance members as they scattered, attempting to find better positions. It flew and hit the wall with a crack and slid to the ground, unconscious. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his father's blue tendrils of electricity flowing from his hands, encompassing two demons that writhed under the attack. In his other peripheral, he could see his mother, her hands working fast as she worked to vanquish a demon that may be working toward hurting any of the resistance members. His heart began to race at the idea that she could die during this, but he knew that telling her to go hide would result in her ignoring the order; plus, having the Charmed ones on their side gave them a distinct advantage.

As it raged on, both sides began to face losses, and more and more bodies seemed to drop to the ground, their cries permeating the air. Each person, while looking out for each other, was focused on themselves, and as the fight raged, it was harder to keep up with others. Wyatt moved through the crowd, his blade slicing through the air with accurate fatality. The world seemed to move in slow motion as he made his way through the remaining resistance members, his intense attack striking down all in his path.

Parker, having no active power, had managed to raid the kitchen for many of the potions they had stored away in case of an emergency. As he was tossing them out, moving around stealthily as he picked out more advantageous positions, he almost tripped over what he thought at first was one of his fallen comrades. His old friends eyes, however, were the ones that looked up at him.

"I hope this was worth it." He hissed in anger, facing off against his friend. "I know it's your family, but _Jesus_, Drew! Look at what you've done!"

"I AM sorry Park, it's just..." His eyes widened in alarm. "Parker, watch out!"

But the warning wasn't in time. He felt the blow even before he had realized what had happened, and soon looked down at his torso to see the tip of a blade piercing through the front of him. He gasped as it was pulled back out, and he managed to crane his neck weakly behind him to see his eldest cousin holding the offending piece, his blood covering most of the sword. There seemed to be a hint of genuine regret in his eyes, but not enough to help him. Wyatt moved on, and Parker hit his knees, his eyes finding Andrew's in front of him, whose mouth was open in horror.

On the other side of the room, Chris found himself more than occupied. It seemed, he realized, that Wyatt's dark lighters had been instructed to aim for him specifically; Wyatt knew he would not be able to do it himself, so this was the way to go. As Chris faced 3 head on, he was formulating, in his minds eye, a way to handle them in a swift manner. He was aware of his father far across the room, his aunts and mother now separated as they fought their own battles. But it was Parker's name, yelled in horror that caught his attention and as he looked up out of instinct, his defense dropped.

The darklighter's arrow that hit first was not from one of the three he was facing, but obviously from another that was waiting for just the right moment to strike. The arrow embedded itself in his stomach, drawing a soft cry of pain from his lips, but it was the following two whose force drove him in to the wall behind him, striking him in the shoulder and the sternum. This time he yelled loudly, not being able to stop the cry this time. The force of the collision with the wall made his head snap back, banging onto the hard surface and he slumped to the ground unconscious.

The yell had stopped everything, and now, good and evil alike looked around to take in the scene. Wyatt threw his arm up in a halting motion.

"We're done here." His voice filled the emptiness, brooking no argument. He turned to his mother and aunts, whose faces were portraits of horror and grief as they took in what Wyatt had become, along with the chaos that had been created by his visit. "You would be wise to come to me. Or we'll be back to finish this for good."

They stood in shock as Wyatt and his men shimmered out, leaving the chaos to reign around them. As they looked around, Piper rushed to Chris and Paige to where the twins stood, one helping the other up as they began to help other survivors. Phoebe's eyes found Parker in the corner behind chairs, hidden from the group, but the way his chest rose and fell with effort alarmed her. She rushed over.

"Parker!" She exclaimed, falling down beside him. "Oh god, Parker! Oh...!" Her voice broke as she felt the pool of blood hit her knees, and she scooted around, letting his head rest in her lap. His eyes fluttered open and he reached for her almost blindly. She grabbed his hand. "I'm here." Was all she needed to say, and she wondered if he knew that she had been suspecting of his true identity. As if reading her mind, he opened his eyes once more.

"_Mom_?" He asked fearfully, swallow hard. She squeezed his hand, tears filling her eyes and spilling over quickly.

"Parker..." She breathed once more, and suddenly, with the emotional trigger as he hand squeezed hers once more, was pulled into a vision. A premonition, where she found herself in the main bathroom at the manor with a 3 or 4 year old little boy sitting on the toilet lid in front of her, brown eyes wide and filled with tears. She knelt in front of him as she cleaned off a nasty scrape with some gauze and Neosporin and placed a batman band-aid over it. The boys face was tear streaked and he was huffing and puffing as if he were still close to sobs, so she smiled at him reassuringly.

_"What if I kiss it, make it all better. Will that help?" She asked. He nodded, sniffing, so she leaned forward and pecked it, leaving remnants of her pink lipstick on the bandage._

_He didn't seem to mind. His tears stopped then, and he opened his mouth in a wide, toothy smile._

_"Thank you mommy!"_

She felt her body stiffen as the vision ended and his terrified, teary eyes stared back at her knowingly as he clutched her hand tighter. Panic began to rise in her breast and she forced herself to tear her gaze away and look for Leo, look for _someone_ to help heal him, but she realized that anyone else-other than Leo-had been hit by the dark lighter attacks. Her eyes soon found the future version of her brother in law, limping as he pulled himself up from the beating he had taken, and saw him rushing to Chris's side. The arrows seemed to have been pulled from his body by Piper, who was sobbing next to his prone body, and she grabbed onto Leo as soon as he arrived, urging him to save their son. Leo might not have even realized Parker was in such bad shape, but she knew he probably would've chosen Chris anyway. Realizing what it meant, she squeezed his hand tighter and looked back down at him, steeling herself to face the very probable death of her son who hadn't even been born yet. It was amazing to her how palpable the grief was.

"Parker!" A shriek came from behind her and she was soon joined by Prue, her usually cool demeanor gone. She had a large gash on her arm, tied shoddily with what looked to be a cloth from a tshirt and the blood had soaked through it already, but she didn't seem to care. "Parker, no!" She grabbed his other hand and squeezed as she began to cry.

"Prue...hey." He began weakly. "Now you're gonna have to keep Chris in line." He joked, a cough following soon after which spattered blood at the corners of his mouth. This only served to make the girl cry harder, and she let her head fall to his chest. He pulled his hand from his mother's for a moment, resting it on his sisters head as she sobbed, trying to comfort her, but his calming hush sounds came out garbled and bubbly as his blood began to fill his mouth, a clear reminder of the situation.

"Parker, no." She sobbed, shaking her head as she pulled back, looking at him. "Hold on for Uncle Leo...he's taking care of Chris, but he'll be here in a second...you just have to hold on. I need you here. I don't know what I do without my pain in the ass older brother." He laughed at her and she smiled sadly through her tears, continuing in a more serious tone once more. "I can't be the only one left, Park...I don't want to be the only one left."

"I'm sorry." He apologized, staring at her once more. "As much crap as I give you, you know I love you, right brat?"

She began sobbing harder. "Parker, no...."

Phoebe, hands now free, brushed the hair from his brow. He looked up at her again, sadness and exhaustion written plainly on his ashen face. "I'm happy you're here for this. It makes it easier."

"Oh Parker..." She saw her tears land on his face and she wiped them away, determined to keep him a long as possible. "You are all I could ever want in a son."

He chuckled and coughed, his breathing growing more erratic. "And you're all we could ever want in a mom. I guess that's an even trade." He coughed and breathed deeply, growing serious. "Stop this. Save us in another way. Change this future. Make it _better_."

He was fading fast; both women had seen enough death in their lives to know he had only moments. Phoebe spared a glance in Chris' direction, but was only met with the sight of Leo struggling over his prone body as Piper cried next to him, even though she saw the glow and realized it was probably taking affect. She wondered how close he had come to death, seeing the struggle and tears that seemed to coat Leo's face; wondered, how long it had really taken to pull her nephew back from the brink.

Too long. Prue leaned over her brother once more, her head on his chest sobbing as he struggled with his last few breaths. He tried to calm her once more, brushing his hand over her brown hair, hushing her lightly. Suddenly, his breath caught and he looked at Phoebe.

"Take care of her." He managed strongly. "Take care of _us_."

His chest fell and did not rise again. Phoebe closed his eyes. He was gone.

-------------

Resistance members gathered quickly as word of the devastating attack on the club circulated to the two other centers in the Bay Area. Clean up began, and other white lighters reported to help with the injuries that had not been immediately fatal and the other bodies were gathered and families were notified. Cary had taken the point on this, since Parker had fallen and Chris...well, Chris was in no state to do anything.

He railed at his father as soon as he had some rest in him. He had regained consciousness some time after he was healed and the first person he asked for upon seeing his girlfriend, and immediate family-the twins, Paige and his parents only, which he dismissed as coincidence-was Parker. Parker never would leave him, he knew, unless Prue or someone else was worse off. Their eyes had filled with tears.

"Chris..." Piper began, but Leo, placed a hand on her knee, knowing that his reaction would probably not be the best and she should not be the one to take the brunt of it.

"Chris," Leo began, and Bianca sat next to the young man on the bed. As she took his hand, he looked into her glassy eyes. No more needed to be said.

"**_NO_**!" He had yelled. "_**NO! NO!**_ Not Parker, not...NO!" Bianca pulled him into a quick hug, but he pushed her away. She stared at him, hurt, and quickly looked at Piper with wide eyes.

"I think this is...this is a family thing." She said slowly, rising slowly, her eyes not on Chris, who had his head in his hands. "I'm gonna..." She just gestured to the door and quickly let herself out, her own tears spilling over. Chris, barely registering the absence in his shock and grief, rose as well. He shook his head in confusion, eyes now red rimmed and tear filled, but clinging to every last fiber of control in his being. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth once as if to begin, then shook his head at the pause. After a moment, he started again.

"What happened?" He croaked, voice breaking. "What _the hell_ happened?"

Slowly, they filled him in on the battle up to the point where he was overcome by the dark lighter arrows and was told that the yell he had heard, they surmised, was from Andrew; he had been taken with Wyatt when he left.

"He was trying to warn him," Leo said softly.

"Yeah, well a fat ton of good that did him. Especially since he's the one that did this!" Chris snapped, burying his palms into his eyes. "Why...why didn't you help him, Leo? What about the others?"

"All...everyone else, the other white lighters...they didn't make it. I was the only one and you..." Leo trailed off.

Chris's eyes snapped open, suddenly blazing with indignation. "What? I what? You decided to save me instead?"

"Chris..." His voice took on a tone he had used with Chris as a child, something akin to his elder voice, used to explain topics that were less than pleasant. This served to only stoke Chris's anger and he snapped.

"No! Don't try to placate me, you made the wrong decision! _You saved the wrong kid_!"

Piper's eyes suddenly caught Leo's gaze behind Chris, a burning feeling in her stomach as she remembered a similar argument between them, much more recent for her than him. His gaze became almost wistful, almost yearning of the simple time when the only person he had disappoint was the woman who had chosen to love him, instead of his child, who he loved beyond a doubt but seemed in a constant battle to prove it. His gaze flicked away from her; this was more important now.

He stepped toward his son, hand outstretched to grab him softly. "Chris..." His voice was softer now, genuinely full of grief and apology, but Chris would have none of it.

"No! Don't touch me! Parker is dead, Dad, he's dead, and he shouldn't be." Angry tears shined in his eyes. "You saved me just cause I'm your god damned son! That's not right!" Tears began to slide down his face, but he angrily brushed them away. "You saved the wrong one."

"Hell if I did." Leo snapped, his anger at his son's own blatant disregard for his well being overriding the grief for his nephew. "This isn't just about you Chris; this is about Prue and the fact that she just lost her only tie to her immediate family, to her mother and father and little sister. It's about Phoebe, who had to watch her son, who hasn't even been born yet, die at her feet. It's about everyone else here that loved him. I wanted to save him. I wish I could've, but I didn't have the time."

"Then you should've left me. You should've saved Parker. He is-_was_-the better one. He_** was**_." Chris insisted.

"Parker was a great kid, Chris, but you know what? There is no one else that could lead this Resistance any better than you. Without you, all of this would've fallen apart. That's why you were the one that needed to survive. That's why you shouldn't feel bad about this. He wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this, which I know is exactly what you're doing."

"You don't know that." He whispered. "You don't know that he couldn't have handled this."

"I do." He insisted vehemently. "I do, and so did Parker, and so does everyone else." Leo got up and walked to his son, grabbing his arms. Chris tried to jerk away, but his father's hands were surprisingly strong on his biceps and he couldn't. He leaned back, not wanting to face anymore, just wanting to GO. "How do you think everyone would've felt if they had no one to follow?"

"They could've followed who was left." He replied weakly, his head hung. "There are other people who could do it."

"I wasn't going to lose another son, Chris!" Leo snapped, tightening his grip on the young man. Chris head snapped up, his eyes wide and surprised at Leo's passionate outburst and the tears in his fathers eyes. "So you be mad at me. You need someone to be mad at, so be mad at me if that's what makes this easier for you. I get if you don't see logic through your grief. Yes, I made a decision, and yes, partially, it was because you are my kid. Because I can't do it, Chris. I can't lose the only family I've got left. I lost your mother, then Wyatt. It's not happening. I'm not going to let it."

Chris was finally able to pull away harshly as Leo's grip loosened, his body seeming to deflate after his outburst. Chris could feel the others eyes on them, expectant and understanding. They knew this would be his reaction; the denial, the anger, the bargaining...all the stages of grief, playing out quickly just like they needed to. He knew that at that moment, after Leo's heartfelt declaration, they thought he should fall into his father's arms, sob into his shoulder and just be held by him like a part of him wanted to do. Even if not that particular scenario, that maybe he should just accept the fact that his father had made a difficult decision when he chose to stick with Chris as he realized Parker was in far worse shape, no matter how much he may disagree with it.

But he didn't. He couldn't. He sunk back further, the tears beginning to stream down his face at a more rapid pace now. He just shook his head, unable to keep the full force of his grief at bay. "I _**can't**_." He said as his voice broke, and orbed out, escaping to a refuge where he could sob alone.

"Let him go, Uncle Leo. He needs to be alone." Cary said, stepping in as Leo seemed to make an action to follow him. Leo opened his mouth as if to protest, but realized it was the truth. He hadn't been in Chris' life for 5 years, and while the last few days had been good for them, it hadn't alleviated all the negative aspects of their relationship enough for him to force his reassurances upon him. He would let him have a little bit, he decided; but after a few hours, he would go, whether he liked it or not. Chris was a grown man that needed his space; but Leo knew that at some point, he'd have to stand up and yet again prove to him that he wouldn't leave again, that he wouldn't ignore him, even if that's what he was told to do. He leaned back against the wall and slumped to the ground, letting his head fall into his hands with a strangled sigh.

How had it all come to this?

-----

Out in the main room, bodies laid neatly next to each other, unable to be covered by sheets or blankets. Each had at least one person next to it, waiting for a family member to come claim them. Those who were injured, or fighting for life sat against walls and laid on sheets, and were being tended to those who had come from the other two centers. Family members identified the bodies where they were needed, but Phoebe was surprised to see them merely somber where they would've expected hysterics.

For now, though, Phoebe and Prue sat quietly, across from each other as Parker's prone body lay still in between them, the younger of the two's tears sliding down her face in silence. They had stripped the boy to his boxers-even though Phoebe felt awkward doing it, Prue didn't seem to- and had begun to wash him up, wiping off the dried blood from his torso and removing the sodden clothing. The door opened slowly, and the twins appeared in sight, each with a bundle in their arms. Paige followed behind them, her face drawn and quiet. Her eyes met Phoebe's and, while she didn't want to voice her concerns in front of the others, Phoebe knew her sister well enough to know what she was asking. She swallowed and waved her hand, as if to say she was fine, but two tears made their way down her face as she closed her eyes. Everything was not fine.

"How did he take it?" Prue asked deadpanned, not taking her eyes from her brother's body as she dipped the cloth in a warm bowl next to her, wringing it out before gently passing it over his chest, cleaning the area where the blade had sliced his skin in order for them to bandage it up so no more bled onto the change of clothes they had brought. Cary cleared his throat.

"Um...well, about as well to be expected. So. Not well. He kinda took off." He sat down next to her and Callie took her other side, resting a hand softly on her cousins back as she took in Parker's state. She closed her eyes and bowed her head, as if in prayer. Phoebe thought it an odd gesture, seeing as prayer and God was never really apart of their lives, but said nothing.

"Yeah, I figured." She replied softly, tilting her head as examined the wound more closely. "Oh Excalibur." She sighed, barely breathing the word. She sat back, licking her lips as she swallowed, her eyelids half closing, tears brimming beneath them. "If King Arthur could see you now."

Phoebe, seeing the girl was weakening, picked up her own rag and continued where she had left off. She didn't look at her; she didn't know what to say, or how to say it. This girl had been cold and distant the entire time she had been in her time, while she and Parker had seemed to have an instant connection, a rapport that was eerily comfortable and familiar. Now, knowing who they were to each other for sure, she felt that she should say something, but there was really nothing she could think of. So she decided to wing it; when the impulse came, she'd know...or, she hoped, she'd know.

As she cleaned him, she gently ran her hands over his now cool flesh of his arm, over his fingers, making a mental memory of everything he was, wanting to soak in every physical aspect of him while she could. She looked up at Prue without making eye contact, as Prue's eyes never left her brother.

"What now?" She asked softly. "What happens now?"

The teenager sniffed and swallowed, shaking her head. "Chris will decide what to do, but usually, Wyatt allows us a funeral at least. Not completely heartless, it seems." Her tone was caustic and cold. Lost.

"The Mausoleum?" Paige asked softly, treading carefully. Callie took over now, speaking quickly as she laid a hand on her cousin's arm in reassurance. They had tried to get her to take a break, to take some time, but she refused to leave his side in the hours since he'd passed. Now, with the sister's asking questions, her cousin didn't want to be too overwhelming; Prue had quite the temper and she didn't want to see what would happen if one of them set her off, as she was already on edge enough.

"No...no. Not...not a burial." She shook her head, dark curls falling out of the loose bun at the base of her neck to frame her face. "We haven't entombed anyone in years. We cremate them now."

"Cremation? Why?" Phoebe asked, as it was customary for those of the Halliwell bloodline to be entombed with those from the family. Cary met her eyes.

"Let's just say that Wyatt has gotten...creative, in his ways of manipulating us and others who he feels are best reached on an emotional, rather than physical, level. He knows how close our bonds are to our family." The blank stares he received let him know they weren't catching his drift, so he swallowed, looking away. "I know you're familiar with Necromancy, Aunt Phoebe."

She went pale; paper white. "Oh. Oh, God..."

"Yeah, cause God's the one I'd go with on this one..." Prue interjected with a roll of her eyes, picking up the cloth again to continue. He was pretty much clean, the paleness due to the blood loss more apparent. Cary had taken care of his more sensitive areas earlier, while Prue was still in shock and Phoebe and Paige were helping others, trying to keep their heads on straight. Now all that was left was bandaging up the wounds and redressing him.

"People seem to be...taking this better than I thought they would." Paige offered, deciding to try and move the conversation away from Parker specifically. Cary shrugged, raising his eyes to meet his mother's.

"This is common place." He explained. Brown eyes that had once seemed so common were now so clearly mirrors of her own, and she began to see features that echoed her own. It hadn't been hard to nail down who they were, once Phoebe had seen Parker's vision as he died. She knew the twins were close to the other top officers that made up the resistance, and they seemed to be included in the close knit group that Prue and Parker also belonged. It was easy to confirm her suspicions that they were more than just close friends to Chris, especially given their partial white lighter status. They hadn't even needed to say anything; the way Cary had launched himself at her when he saw her come to check on them as the fight ended was enough of a confirmation as any. He had wrapped his arms around her, thankful for her safety and she had seen the terror and worry in both of their eyes. And she had hugged them back, both, just as hard.

"Common place?" Phoebe ventured.

"This was a minor scuffle, compared to what we've been through over the past few years." Prue replied flatly, eyes still on her brother. "The real devastating part of this is all of the senior officers that were wounded or killed. We lost a lot of good people."

Phoebe, seeing the distress and hearing the depression in her voice, reached a comforting hand to cover the girls where it rested on her brothers torso. Prue's head snapped up, eyes blazing, and yanked her hand back as if Phoebe had burnt it. "Don't TOUCH me!" She yelled. Everyone's eyes widened, silent. Prue seemed to falter then, gaining her wits about her as she shook her head.

Phoebe, slack jawed and surprised, sat back on her haunches as the girl back away slowly, rising in her flustered state. "I'm sorry," She began to explain. "I just thought..."

"I know what you thought." The girl snapped. "You thought you'd try and help me through this," She sneered. "I think you and your sisters have done quite enough."

Callie had risen by now. "Prue, don't..."

"No!" The girl exclaimed, turning on her cousin. "No. She shouldn't try and make this better. It's your fault!" She exclaimed, turning back to her mother's younger counterpart. "If you and your sisters don't show up here, none of this happens! Chris doesn't get left for dead, Leo doesn't get caught saving him, Parker doesn't..." She had begun crying again, and as she mentioned her brother, a sob overtook her and she covered her mouth with both hands to stifle them before spinning around and bolting away. Callie looked back at her mother and aunt, hands open as if to try and explain, then shook her head and turned to chase after her.

Phoebe stood, stunned and now pale at her future daughter's unexpected outburst. As she had fled, the door had swung open and failed to fall back shut, and she was acutely aware of the multiple sets of eyes peering in out of curiosity and wonder. A few, she assumed friends, had followed Callie, but she didn't dare turn to look.

"She didn't mean it." Cary began after a few moments of silence, moving towards the door to close it and regain their privacy. Paige watched him, the image of a young man who had realized the amount of responsibility now upon him as everything around him began to crumble.

"Yes she did." Phoebe whispered back, her eyes on Parker now. "Yes, she did." She looked up at Paige, tears shining in her eyes again. "And she's right."

"Phoebe..."

"No....no, she is, she's right." She shook her head, the sheen in her eyes growing brighter. "I did this. _Me_. _I _said the spell wrong, because of some stupid, stupid misguided desire for...for some _man_, and I...I've killed..." She dropped off, gasping for a breath. Cary grabbed her hand.

"You've saved us, Aunt Phoebe. Because of you, this doesn't have to happen, ever." He grasped it tightly, forcing her to look at him. "Prue does this. She lashes out. She rationalizes stuff in the wrong ways, but she'll come around. Please, though. Believe me when I say, you are not who she is blaming in this. She is grieving and you just happened to be the one in her line of site when she reached her limit."

"But it's true...everything she said, about Chris, and Leo, and..." She trailed off, looking at the lifeless body in front of her. "It's all true. None of you would've been in this position if not for us. For _**me**_. For my botched, selfish spell."

"There's nothing to say he wouldn't have died without your interference here. Not to mention, if we'd have had to come up with some sort of time traveling fiasco on our own. Could you imagine Chris, or Parker, coming to your time? You'd never believe them." He said it with the hint of a sad smile on her face, but she reeled back.

"Of course we would! If it was to protect our family, we would do anything!"

Now the smile was full; sad, but full. "Exactly. And we know that. We know that you'll stop this. So let her let lose some steam. She was reaching her limit, your gesture just happened to be the boiling point." He dropped her hand, smiling more cheekily now than sorrowful. "Besides, you'll learn from this right? A life lesson? You'll never do something like this again, hm?" There was a twinkle in his eyes, like something of a result of an inside joke, and she had to smile.

"Something tells me that I'm a heavy proponent of this stuff in the future."

"If you mean learning from our mistakes-especially the magical ones-then yes, you are. Especially magical ones...what did you say?" He closed his eyes, biting his lips, which still formed a smile, his voice becoming tight and almost haughty. "Ah yes; 'Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement.'" And he winked at her, laughing a little as he turned to retrieve some of Parker's things. Her eyes narrowed.

"Surely I don't sound like that."

"Oh please, you sound like that now; I doubt much changes. Time probably makes you worse." Paige interjected with a teasing smile, stepping forward. Phoebe returned to glance sourly, then rolled her eyes, resting on her back foot. Paige's gaze found Cary then as he kneeled close to Parker's head. "Looks like you're wrapping up here?"

"Yeah...yeah." He nodded, now avoiding her eyes. They hadn't really spoken since their tight reunion after the battle, and she sensed he was off-put now, maybe even regretful of the affection he had displayed. Maybe she wasn't a great mom to them, maybe they were only worried for their own well being...or maybe it was something else. Either way, the task at hand was trying enough that she didn't want to press, and she sighed.

"Did you need help, then, or did you want us to do something else...? I think at times like these, it's best to be busy." Paige offered then. He looked up at her now, but his eyes darted between her and Phoebe's face, and random other spots in the room. Paige's spirits fell but a bit.

"I'm sure there's still things to be done out in the main room. Um...I'd go check with Uncle Leo and Piper. I'm sure they could use the help. Plus," He pursed his lips, looking back at his cousin's corpse. "I'd kinda like some time alone with him, if that's alright."

"We understand." Phoebe replied. "We're gonna...we'll be out in the main area, if you need us. Okay?"

"Mmhmm." He replied, nodding, but as he tended to his cousin's body, it was obvious he was already in a world of his own. Paige sighed and Phoebe grabbed her hand, motioning with a head gesture towards the door where they quietly made their way out to the main room to face their sister and brother in law, and see what they could do to help with a mess it seemed, they had only served to create. And hopefully, forever prevent from happening.

------


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: So did we go through a wormhole or something? Or is life just breezing right past everyone else as well? I could swear it was winter like...last week. What I'm really trying to say here, is sorry for taking...MONTHS to update. My only real excuse is that I love, love, love the show Supernatural, and after the fifth season of it, needed fic from that to survive lol. But this somehow, like it always does, came back to me. So here we are. Again. Hopefully it keeps moving. Lets hope right? I would like to thank everyone who keeps coming back to this, and reading it occasionally when I update. Every now and then, I go look at story stats and I'm amazed to keep getting reviews for this and it's a real kick in the ass to getting writing. So. Thanks :D Enough of the the tl;dr; here ya go! :)_

* * *

If there was anything that Chris could find to be thankful for on this horrendous night, this was it. The state of the Golden Gate Bridge was less than stellar, with the main part of the bridge hanging into the bay. The tall beams that had connected the cables, however, remained and preserved Chris' most prized solitary spot. He was amazed that Wyatt had not sent his guards to await his brother's arrival, but he saw that as yet more proof that his brother was not completely lost.

He had cried only a bit when he had arrived, sharp quick sobs that had overtaken his body in such a way that he had almost been incapacitated with grief. He had stabilized himself though and had immediately begun going over every action from the day in his mind, trying to pinpoint his mistake and where he had gone wrong and began to come to conclusion that he had relaxed too much. His mother and his aunt's presence had thrown him off his usually over cautious game and now Parker was dead, along with so many others. He balled his hands into tight fists, anger at himself and his brother rising in his chest, making his heart beat rapidly in fury. How could he do this? After everyone else's death he was responsible for, Wyatt himself had killed their younger cousin in cold blood.

Parker had always been closer than their other cousins. He was just under 2 years younger than Chris, the first of Phoebe's three children, and her only boy. While Paige had had twins-a boy and girl-a year before, they were her only children at the time and closer to each other than Piper's two children, especially since Paige had opted to move out of the Manor and in with her husband, Henry. Phoebe, however, had stayed at the manor until Prue was born, giving Wyatt, Chris and Parker more time to bond. He had always assumed they would be the next Charmed ones, given their closeness and compatibility, and while they had all been close, Chris and Parker's bond seemed to grow as strong as Wyatt and Chris' had, the relationship becoming similar to a big brother one. In the end though, Wyatt looked out for them both. For Wyatt to kill Parker-probably in an attempt to attack one of Chris' primary weakness's, the young witch lighter surmised now-illustrated how desperate he was getting to end this conflict and attain his place as ruler of all things magical.

"Well," Chris said to himself, his mouth setting in a line. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"Let what happen?"

He stiffened at his father's voice and closed his eyes. Was there no sanctuary for him now? He sighed. "What are you doing here? What did you not understand when I said I can't?" He ground out. Leo moved closer, he could hear, but stopped behind him.

"That was three hours ago Chris. You've been up here forever. I'm good with giving you space, but you've made it clear I've given you too much. You can't continue to deal with this alone; you've gone too long doing that."

"Yeah? And who's fault is that?" He snapped, spinning as he rose to his feet. He glared at his father, who sighed, resignation on his face.

"I'm not doing this. I'm not letting you change the subject. Be mad at me, I'm okay with that." He walked over to his son, his face weary and tired. He grabbed onto his shoulders, grip tight. "Come on kid, let me help you."

"Help me?" He asked, raising his arms to knock his father's arms to the side. "No. No one can help me. Wyatt killed Parker. Himself. At least with Uncle Coop, and Uncle Henry and the girls...at least he had his minions do it. How could he kill Parker?" He asked, eyes wide. "How can he really be gone?"

It took Leo a moment, as he opened his mouth to respond then thought better of it, to realize the question was meant in two ways; not only for Parker's death, but for Wyatt's seemingly decided path into the dark being most irreversible as well. He was too far gone, it seemed. Chris had been harboring a hope that somehow they could save his brother from everything he had done, but the truth was, there was nothing they could do now.

Now, that was.

Chris shook his head, walking away from his father as he ran a hand through his hair. He crossed his arm, eyes closing as he changed the subject. He was going to start weeping again if he kept on this track, and that was just something he didn't want to do. He'd cried enough-more than he ever would've like to-in the past few days as it was. "How is everyone else? Prue, the twins? The sisters?"

"The sisters are dealing. Everyone else is grieving for their own loved ones. The twins seem to be keeping the family together as best they can and Prue..." Leo trailed off with a sigh. "Well, you know how Prue can be in these situations. She yelled at Phoebe. Told her it was her fault."

He was met with silence from his son, and after it carried for a few moments, he cleared his throat. "Do you blame them for this, Chris?" He asked softly, looking down now at his own hands. Again, Chris was silent. Leo crossed the distance between them slowly and walked in front of his son, facing him directly.

"I don't want to," He began softly, his head hung as he fiddled with his hands. "But, I mean...it's all connected right? Really, this whole mess is their fault. Parker..." He trailed off. "He's dead. He's dead because Wyatt's patience is waning. Because I got away again. Because of you being here, for saving me. And the only reason he had me to begin with was because of them..."

Leo looked at his son, whose head was bent in thought as he stared at his hands. "This isn't their fault anymore than it is of yours, Chris." He comforted softly, hesitantly resting a hand on his shoulder. He felt his son's muscles tense under his hand, and he was about to move it when Chris seemed to relax. He turned his head to his father's face, his eyes sad and shining with tears.

"I was supposed to watch out for him. For everyone here." He sighed, swallowing hard. "And still, people keep dying around me."

Leo studied his son for a moment, contemplating his next move. He knew that no words would be able to make him feel better. There was nothing he could really do for his son, and that made his heart break. But maybe...maybe he could help him understand that he wasn't alone. "Sit down, Chris." He urged softly, with an underlying authoritative firmness that Chris caught. He stared at his father for a moment, eyes wide, before sitting as he was told without objection. Leo, pleasantly surprised by the lack of complaint, eased himself down next to his son.

"I want to tell you about Gideon. Tell you the rest of the story."

Chris blanched. His father had avoided the topic so steadfastly earlier in the week that it unnerved him. "Why now? What's changed?"

"You should understand, I think, that you're not alone feeling the way you do. We all have those things that wear on us. Guilt."

"What do you have to be guilty of that could compare to this?" Chris muttered, head bent now.

He heard the question but bypassed it, understanding the doubt. But he continued. "It was years before enough information was compiled, and enough evidence obtained against Gideon to try him. After that, he was kept for years while the case against him was built and prepared to be presented in the presence of the Tribunal."

"The Tribunal?" He breathed. "That's...that's not the usual proceedings for just any trial."

Leo nodded. "Gideon was an elder. And a very powerful Wizard. He was intelligent, and his indiscretion was too large to be overlooked."

"The Tribunal is a locked court. You can't leave, or enter until every thing's over. You can't hear anyone outside of it." He felt odd, and floaty, his mother's voice from so long ago coming back to him softly. He almost didn't hear his father's affirmation.

"Yes."

_"Your dad is busy today, so we can't bother him..."_

"Were you apart of it? As an Elder, was that something you took part in, his trial?" Chris asked, slowly putting pieces together in his mind.

"As Wyatt's father, and as an Elder, I was there. One of us, your mother or I, needed to be there. As the Elder, we decided I would. Your mother had some more pressing matters to deal with."

_"This is important, Christopher. And it's something you boys don't know about. He can't, and won't, be pulled away."_

He fell silent. Chris was smart kid; he would let him come to it on his own. Leo rose, the memories of the trial and the time surrounding it coming back with a painful vivacity. He stood at the edge of the bridge, one hand on a beam as he leaned into the wind, closing his eyes.

"When? When was it?" Chris asked, rising to his feet as well.

_"I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just very important that he goes to this...meeting."_

"Chris..."

"Is that why? After all this time, is that why you wouldn't tell me? That's why you didn't answer me?"

Leo turned then, his eyes shiny as he blinked. "I couldn't hear you because I was in the Tribunal. Hours had passed by the time the guilty verdict was handed down, by the time he was sentenced. A lifetime in imprisonment, by the way. I thought it was well worth it for what he did to your brother." He swallowed, again hanging his head. "Not worth your mother though. If we would've had any idea the attack was imminent, there is no way I would've been in that room."

Chris' eyes welled with tears. "All these years..." He whispered, staring at his father in disbelief; his fists balled tightly at his side. "Why didn't you ever tell me? Tell any of us? I've been so...angry, with you."

"You had reason to be."

"But it's not your fault!" Chris exclaimed. Leo just stared back at him, a small sad smile on his face.

"And yet, I'll never forgive myself. Seems like we have something in common, hm?"

Chris' face darkened. "It's not the same."

"It's the exact same. Parker, your Uncle's, your cousin's...your mom. They weren't your fault. And yet, we can't help but feel like it is. Won't listen to anyone who says otherwise. Who's to say if I was there, if I could have stopped that...what if that would've kept Wyatt straight? What if this entire thing can be traced back to that one incident?"

"You can't think like that!" Chris insisted. "It's not just one person's fault, and even if it were, we can't concentrate and dwell on the past. It doesn't make us any stronger, and certainly doesn't help with what we have to..." His face had been determined and sharp, but his eyes narrowed as he saw his father's smile. He trailed off.

"Exactly." Leo replied softly. Chris glared at his father.

"I hate it when you do that. You always used to do that..."

Leo chuckled. "So did your mother. You are so very much like her, Chris." He stepped closer to his son. "We can stay here for as long as you need. But when we do go back, remember this talk. And focus on what we have to do. It's gonna be a trick to get them home safe so they can fix this."

Chris nodded, but said nothing. "You okay, kid?" Leo asked once more.

"Can we just...can we stay here just a little bit more?"

"Sure. We'll go back when you're ready. I'm staying with you though."

Chris nodded and sighed, turning his face out back toward the bay. A small smile played upon his lips as a breeze ruffled his messy brown hair. "I think I can deal with that."

* * *

P3 had grown quiet in the hours since Chris had left the club. After the bodies of the dead were identified and the families were notified, those who could orb were asked to help the families move the bodies in a discreet manor to where they needed to go, so the families could do as they needed with them. Phoebe, faced with an empty common room now, decided to start cleaning. She sighed. Singe marks and bloodstains marked where people once danced and drank and had good times, where semi-famous bands once played.

She moved to the kitchen and searched for a bucket and some cleaning supplies. Paige was helping with the families of those who were killed in the battle of the day, and Piper was...somewhere. Right now, Phoebe was just trying to find something to concentrate on and get her mind off the emotional toll this day had wrought.

_"It's your fault!"_

Her daughter's words rang through her head with such ferocity, it sprung tears to her eyes, but the sadness was nothing compared to the guilt. Because when it came down to it, she was so right. It was their fault. It was her fault. And not only was her future son dead because of it, so were so many others. She shook her head away, swallowing down the lump in her throat. She might as well make herself useful.

She made her way back out to the open area of the club and began to clean the ground where blood and other remnants of the battle now coated it. She didn't even realize she was crying until she looked up as footsteps approached, and the world seemed blurry.

Prue was in front of her looking down, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Hi."

"Hey." Phoebe uttered, wiping her face with her arm as she looked back down.

"...what are you doing?"

"I'm cleaning." Phoebe deadpanned. She wasn't trying to be short, or mean to the girl, but Prue had made it evident she wasn't such a fan of her mothers, so Phoebe decided for that the time being, she'd just stay out of her way.

She heard the girl sigh, and begin to walk away, and she felt a small semblance of hope wither within her. She supposed she hoped the girl would want to talk, and express her feelings. She guessed she was just surprised that she had had a daughter...had _raised_ a daughter, that wasn't as open with her feelings as she was.

She was pleasantly surprised, however, when a few moments later, Prue knelt beside her with a sponge and dipped it in the bucket.

"...what are you doing?" She asked now, leaning back on her haunches. The girl kept her head down as she began scrubbing.

"I'm helping."

When she offered no other explanation, she nodded. "Ooookay then."

They cleaned in silence for a bit, moving from the bloodstains to the broken pieces of furniture and wall to the other things that had gotten displaced in the conflict. Phoebe could feel Prue looking at her though, instead of cleaning, as she finished up some things in a corner, so she turned back to her. "What, Prue?" She asked gently. The words came out sharp though, and the girls expression turned mournful. Phoebe cursed to herself. Why the hell would she talk to her daughter like that? Especially when the girl had been right. Prue shrugged.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier." The words came out stunted, and slow, and she stared at her hands the entire time. "I tend to fly off the handle sometimes, and say things...without filtering them. I shouldn't have been so hateful."

Phoebe sat back, rag in hand, eyes roving over the girl as she began to scrb the floor again. "It's okay. I'm sorry...I'm not what I should be." She finished weakly, falling back on her butt, her back hitting the wall. She sighed, and Prue looked up.

"You couldn't be who you should be to me, now, could you? Wouldn't make sense." She smiled softly with a shrug. "You always told us...that having kids, it changed you so much. That is was something you had always wanted and that..." She trailed off.

"That what?"

Prue's eyes found hers, and Phoebe softened to see them glistening. "That it made you less selfish. That...you stopped thinking about your life, and started thinking about ours. I think...I think that's the difference. My mom would've never done what you did, for personal gain purposes."

The hurt must have been evident on Prue's face, because she hurried to continue. "I don't mean that as an insult, Phoebe. You can't be the person my mom was, if you're not this person now. Believe me," She laughed. "All your shenanigans and mistakes help me out later. They're very good...do as I say, not as I do, examples."

While the previous comment still stung slightly, Phoebe felt herself smile. "So...I'm not a bad mom?"

At this, Prue paled, and her head shot up. "No!" She exclaimed, eyes swimming now. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard before blinking fast. "You were...you'll be, an awesome mom. That's why this is so hard."

"Well then. I'm sorry I can't be who you need."

"You're still my mom, Phoebe. A little younger, but...still her. You have some stuff to learn, but you're the same in that...I know you care deeply about all of us. That you cared about Parker," Her voice hitched. "Even if you didn't know him long."

Phoebe tossed the rag in the bucket. "We're going to stop this, Prue. And don't tell me I don't know that. Because I do. Because if it doesn't work, i'll go back again. And again. I'll tear apart the entire cosmos if I have to."

Prue chuckled. "I know. Your determination is something I'm pretty familiar with." Phoebe smiled. "Looks like we've gotten enough done. How long do you think Chris will be gone for?"

Prue sighed. "Long enough. He's the king of brooding that one." She tossed her rag in the bucket too, sitting back and drawing her knees to her chest. "I was thinking of cooking some dinner for everyone. Something easy and quick."

"I could help." Phoebe offered.

Prue smiled softly. "Uh...no offense, but your cooking skills don't exactly excel over the next few years." She replied with a grin.

"That's a shocker." Piper's voice came from behind them and they turned where they sat to see her standing behind them, arms crossed with a look of amusement on her face. "I can help, if you'd like."

"That'd be awesome, Piper." Prue pushed herself up off the cold concrete, dusting her legs off. She looked down at the past version of her mother and smiled softly, offering her hand. "Want to come with us? We can all get to know each other a bit better?"

Phoebe smiled back up at her and grasped her hand. Tears again shined in Prue's eyes at the feel of her mother's hand but she swallowed it down as Phoebe stood up with a nervous sigh. "I'd love to."

Chris and Leo returned shortly before the food was on the table. There weren't many people left at the P3 location; just the immediate family, and Bianca, who had managed to hang back and let the family drama unfold in front of her. When the father and son reappeared, she exhaled a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Chris, very much aware of all the eyes on him, ignored the gazes and moved toward her, intertwining his fingers in hers. She squeezed his hand and he lowered his head to her shoulder, letting his head rest in her neck, breathing her in.

* * *

"I'm sorry." She whispered, softly enough for only him to hear. He shook his head but kept silent; still, she knew, he meant that it was him who should be apologizing.

"Are you hungry, Chris?" Piper's voice came soft and hesitant, torn between not wanting to interrupt the moment, but needing to know he was okay.

He raised his head from his fiance's neck, and looked at his mother; her breath caught in her throat at his forlorn expression. He shook his head and swallowed. "I want to see him."

Leo opened his mouth to suggest that what Chris needed after this day was food, but clamped it shut at Piper's sharp look. Bianca squeezed his hand. "Come on. He's in a private chamber."

Along with many of the other mystically formed extensions of the club were rooms for storage-and for mourning. As the body counts rose, there wasn't enough time to put everyone to rest at once, so there were a few rooms constructed to hold the bodies of the dead so that they would be kept until they could be buried.

The room was cold that they entered, but it wasn't why Chris shivered. Bianca closed the door behind them, releasing her hold on his hand as he walked toward the prone body on the table, freshly washed and clothed. He swallowed hard. "He just looks like he's sleeping, doesn't he?" He whispered, reaching out to touch his cousin's face. At the cold, stiff reception, he jerked back as if burned, choking on a sob. He bent beside a half empty wash bucket and dry heaved into it, strings of bile and spit falling from his lips. He swiped them away with a growl.

"Chris..." Bianca walked to him and reached out but he shrugged her off.

"I'm okay...I'm...i'm okay." He reassured, straightening, holding his hands up. "It was just...I mean, believe me, I know he's gone its just..." His gaze fell again on him. "He just looks like he's sleeping."

She placed a comforting hand on his back and rubbed it in a comforting way, until his shoulders relaxed and he sighed deeply. "Tomorrow at dusk then?"

"I think everyone was waiting for you."

He cursed. "Tomorrow at dusk then." He repeated gravelly. "Can I have a few moments?"

"Yeah...of course babe. I'll spread the word?"

He nodded his approval, and she left without him turning to watch her leave. He eyes never left his cousin's face. Now alone, his eyes filled again.

"Oh Park." He breathed out, voice shaky. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Dusk came too quickly. They awoke late the next morning, the emotional toll of the day before keeping everyone in bed until early afternoon. The sisters and younger cousins took up the task of wrapping Parker in linens for the cremation while a few small teams began to construct the funeral pyre on the shore of San Fransisco Bay, the skeletal remains of the city landmark looming behind them as a haunting reminder of what hung in the balance.

Chris needed no reminder. As late afternoon drew near, he forced himself to keep it together as they headed down as a family to the bayside. There weren't many; there had been too many lives lost the day before, individual families were having their own ceremonies much like this one. He laughed darkly; merciful Lord Wyatt, he mused inwardly. As least he let them have their funerals.

He lit the funeral pyre in the setting light, the twigs and branches catching alight with amber's and oranges that ignited the faces of the mourners as the sun dipped below the horizon. Chris felt a twist in his gut; Parker loved the sunsets on the bay.

He said it made him hopeful for the future.

He turned to the others, his family and some close friends. "This ends. Tomorrow." He faced his mother and his aunts, determination on his face. "We're gonna get you home, tomorrow, no matter what, and you are gonna keep this from happening. This ends tomorrow." He repeated, snuffing out the incendiary and throwing it on the pyre before turning and stalking off, aware of all eyes on him.

For the first time since they'd arrived, Piper didn't know which son she was more afraid for. The thought would haunt her forever.


End file.
